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THE

UNION TEXT BOOK:

CONTAINING

SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS

OF

DANIEL WEBSTER;

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE;

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES;

AND

WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS.
WITH COPIOUS INDEXES.

TinKKTV AM) IFnION, NOIV AND FOKKTKR, ONK AND INSISPAnAHLE.

One CoCiNTRV, Onk Constitution, One Dkstiny.

FOR THE HIGHER CLASSES OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS,
AND FOR HOME READING.

PHILADELPHIA :
G, G. EVANS, PUBLISHER,

No. 439 CHESTNUT STREET.
I860.

Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by

G. G. EVANS,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of

Pennsylvania.

TO THE

GOVERNOR

OF

EACH STATE IN THE UNION

COMPOSING THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED

BY

THE EDITOR.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Dedication, . , 3

Preface, 7

Death of Daniel Webster, . . 8

Extract from President Pillmore's Message, .... 8

Proceedings of the Senate of the United States, .... 9

John Davis's Eulogy on Daniel Webster, 9

Table of the Presidents of the United States, .... 12

Table of dates in which Mr. Webster was in Congress, . . 12
Selections from the Writings of Daniel Webster.

Eirst settlement of New England, 13

Revolution in Greece, 32

Tribute of respect to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel Web-
ster in tlie Greek House of Representatives, ... 32

Bunker Hill Monument, 42

Battle of Bunker Hill, . .58

Adams and Jefferson, 60

Revolutionary Officers, 94

Boston Mechanic Institution, 98

Speech on Foot's Resolution, 108

Last remarks on the same, . . . . . . . 125

Public Dinner at New York, .129

Character of Washington, 145

The Constitution not a Compact between sovereign States, . 157

Reception at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1833, 178

Reply to the Mechanics and Manufacturers, . . . .180

Reception at Pittsburg, . . . . ... 182

The Presidential Protest, 196

Appointing and Removing Power, 215

Reception at Bangor, Me., 221

Presentation of a Vase, 228

Slavery and the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia, . 236

The Louisville Canal, 240

Protest against the Expunging Resolution, .... 245

National Bank, petition for a, 251

The Madison Papers, 254

Reception at Madison, Ind., 256

The Currency, 2G2

(5)

CONTENTS.

272
280

296
311
316
316
318
322
323
323
324
328
341
361
370
379
392
405

Selections from the Writings of "Webster, continued.

Eeply to Mr. Calhoun,

Completion of the Bunker Hill Monument,

The Christian Ministry, and the Eeligious instruction of the
young,

Mr. Justice Story, . .

Southern Tour,

Reception at Charleston, S. C,

Dinner of the New England Society,

Reception at Columbia, S. C,

Address of the Students of Carolina Colleg

Mr. Webster's reply, ....

Reception at Savannah, Ga., .

Festival of the Sons of New Hampshire,

Constitution and the Union,

The Compromise Measures, .

Pilgrim Festival at Ncav York,

Reception at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1851, .

Speech to the Young Men of Albany,

Dinner at Albany, in the evening.

Addition to the Capitol. 409

Letter to Messrs. John Haven and others, of Portsmouth, N. H., 426

Letter to Messrs. William Kinney and others, of Staunton, Va., 429

Letter to the New York Committee for celebrating the birth-
day of Washington,

Declaration of Independence.

Proceedings in the Congress of the United Colonies respect-
ing " A Declaration of Independence," ....

Declaration by the Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled, .....

Note respecting the Constitution,

Constitution of the United States of America, .

Articles in Addition to, and Amendment of, the Constitution,

Dates of the Adoption of the Constitution and of the

Amendments, 463

Secretary Buchanan's Certificate, ..... 464

Secretary Webster's Letter, 464

Washington's Farewell Address, 465

Mr. Sparks's Note, . . ^ 482

Chronological Series of Events in the Life of Daniel Webster, 483
Extract from Choate's Eulogy, . . . . . . .483

Index to the Selections from Webster, . . ... . 485

Index to the Constitution of the United States, . . • 495

Index to Washington's Farewell Address, 504

432

437

438
444
445
460

PREFACE.

The presentation of the Constitutional Text
Book to the People of the United States certain-
ly needs no apology ; for it contains the Funda-
mental Law of our Country^ with an Introduction
selected from the writings of him who has justly
been styled the Expounder and the Defender
OF THE Constitution.

In making the Selections from the Writings
of Mr. Webster, great care has been taken to
select such parts as may be considered National^
and which will tend to strengthen the opinions
of the old, and to impress the young with a love
OF Country, a veneration for the Constitu-
tion, A RESPECT FOR THE MeMORY OF THE GREAT
AND GOOD MEN WHO FOUNDED OUR E-EPUBLIC AND
WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY, A FERVENT ATTACHMENT

TO THE Union, to Liberty, to Peace, to Order,
AND TO Law ; and will also teach lessons of
Wisdom, of Morality, and of Religion.

When the work is used as a Class Book, the
instructor will readily find in the Indexes sug-
gestions for all the Questions necessary to be
asked ; and the Answers of the students should
always be in the very words of the text.

Boston, January 1, 1854.

(7)

DEATH OF DANIEL WEBSTER.

" Within a few weeks, the public mind has been deeply affected
by the death of Daniel Webstek, filling, at his decease, the
office of Secretary of State. His associates in the Executive Gov-
ernment have sincerely sympathized with his family, and the public
generally, on this mournful occasion. His commanding talents, his
great political and professional eminence", his well-tried patriotism,
and hia long and faithful services in the most important public
trusts, have caused his death to be lamented throughout the coun-
try and haye earned for him a lasting place in our history."

[Extract from the President's Message.

(8)

SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1852.

After various topics of the Message of the President had been re-
ferred to the appropriate Committees, Mr. Davis * rose, and addressed
the Senate as follows : —

Mk. President : — I rise to bring to the notice of the Senate an
event which has touched the sensibilities and awakened sympathies in
all parts of the country — an event which has appropriately found a
place in the message of the President, and ought not to be passed in
silence by the Senate. Sir, we have, within a short space, mourned the
death of a succession of men illustrious by their services, their talents,
and worth. Not only have seats in this Chamber, in the other House,
and upon the bench of the Court been vacated, but death has entered
the Executive Mansion, and claimed that beloved patriot who filled the
Chair of State.

The portals of the tomb had scarcely closed upon the remains of a
great and gifted member of this House, before they are again opened to
receive another marked .man of our day — one who stood out with a
singular prominence before his countrymen, challenging, by his extraor-
dinary intellectual power, the admiration of his fellow-men.

Daniel Webster, (a name familiar in the remotest cabin upon the
frontier,) after mixing actively with the councils of his country for forty
years, and having reached the limits of life assigned to mortals, has
descended to the mansions of the dead, and the damp earth now rests
upon his manly form.

That magic voice, which was wont to fill this place with admiring
listeners, is hushed in eternal silence. The multitude will no longer
bend in breathless attention from the galleries to catch his words, and to
watch the speaking eloquence of his countenance, animated by the
fervor of his mind ; nor will the Senate again be instructed by the out-
pourings of his profound intellect, matured by long experience, and
enriched by copious streams from the fountains of knowledge. The
thread of life is cut ; the immortal is separated from the mortal ; and
the products of a great and cultivated mind are all that remain to us
of the jurist and legislator.

Eew men have attracted so large a share of public attention, or main-
tained for so long a period an equal degree of mental distinction. In
this and the other House there were rivals for fame, and he grappled in

* John Davis, of Massachusetts.

(9)

10 EULOGY OF JOHN DAVIS.

debate with the master minds of the day, and achieved in such manly
conflict the imperishable renown connected with his name.

Upon most of the questions which have been agitated in Congress
during his period of service, his voice was heard. Few orators have
equalled him in a masterly power of condensation, or in that clear, logi-
cal arrangement of proofs and arguments which secures the attention
of the hearer, and holds it with unabated interest.

These speeches have been preserved, and many of them will be read
as forensic models, and will command admiration for their great display
of intellectual power and extensive research. This is not a suitable
occasion to discuss the merits of political productions, or to compare
them with the effusions of great contemporaneous minds, or to speak
of the principles advocated. All this belongs to the future, and history
will assign each great name the measure of its enduring fame.

Mr. Webster was conspicuous not only among the most illustrious
men in the halls of legislation, but his fame shone with undiminished
lustre in the judicial tribunals as an advocate, where he participated in
many of the most important discussions. On the bench were Marshall,
Story, and their brethren — men of patient research and comprehensive
scope of intellect — who have left behind them, in our judicial annals,
proofs of greatness which will secure profound veneration and respect
for their names. At the bar stood Pinckney, Wirt, Emmett, and many
others who adorned and gave exalted character to the profession.
Amid these luminaries of the bar he discussed many of the great ques-
tions raised in giving construction to organic law ; and no one shone
with more intense brightness, or brought into the conflict of mind more
learning, higher proofs of severe mental discipline, or more copious
illustration.

Among such men, and in such honorable combat, the foundations of
that critical knowledge of constitutional law, which afterward became a
prominent feature of his character, and entered largely into his opinions
as a legislator, were laid.

The arguments made at this forum displayed a careful research into
the history of the formation of the Federal Union, and an acute analy-
sis of the fundamental provisions of the Constitution.

Probably no man has penetrated deeper into the principles, or taken
a more comprehensive and complete view of the Union of the States,
than that great man, Chief Justice Marshall. No question was so subtle
as to elude his grasp, or so complex as to defy his penetration. Even
the great and the learned esteemed it no condescension to listen to the
teachings of his voice ; and no one profited more by his wisdom, or
more venerated his character, than Mr. Webster.

To stand among such men with marked distinction, as did Mr. Web-
ster, is an association which might satisfy any ambition, whatever

EULOGY OF JOHN. DAVIS. 11

might be its aspirations. But there, among those ilkistrious men, who
have finished their labors and gone to their final homes, he made his
mark strong and deep, which will be seen and traced by posterity.

But I need not dwell on that which is familiar to all readers who feel
an interest in such topics ; nor need I notice the details of his private
life — since hundreds of pens have been employed in revealing all
the facts, and in describing, in the most vivid manner, all the scenes
which have been deemed attractive ; nor need I reiterate the fervent
language of eulogy which has been poured out in all quarters from the
press, the pulpit, the bar, legislative bodies, and public assemblies —
since his own productions constitute his best eulogy.

I could not, if I were to attempt it, add any thing to the strength or
beauty of the manifold evidences which have been exhibited of the
length, the breadth, and height of his fame ; nor is there any occasion
for such proofs in the Senate — the place where his face was familiar,
where many of his greatest efforts were made, and where his intellectual
powers were appreciated. Here he was seen and heard, and nowhere
else will his claim to great distinction be more cheerfully admitted.

But the places which have known him will know him no more !
His form will never rise here again ; his voice will not be heard, nor
his expressive countenance seen. He is dead. In his last moments
he was surrounded by his family and friends at his own home ; and,
while consoled by their presence, his spirit took its flight to other re-
gions. All that remained has been committed to its kindred earth.

Divine Providence gives us illustrious men, but they, like others,
when their mission is ended, yield to the inexorable law of our being.
He who gives also takes away, but never forsakes his faithful children.

The places of those possessing uncommon gifts are vacated, the sod
rests upon the once manly form, now as cold and lifeless as itself, and
the living are filled with gloom and desolation. But the world rolls on ;
Nature loses none of its charms ; the sun rises with undiminished splen-
dor ; the grass loses none of its freshness ; nor do the flowers cease to
fill the air with fragrance. Nature, untouched by human woe, proclaims
the immutable law of Providence, that decay follows growth, and that
He who takes away never fails to give.

Sir, I propose the following resolutions, believing that they will meet
the cordial approbation of the Senate :

Resolved, That the Senate has received with profound sensibility the
annunciation from the President of the death of the late Secretary of
State, Daniel Webster, who was long a highly distinguished member
of this body.

Resolved, That the Senate will manifest its respect for the memory of
the deceased, and its sympathy with his bereaved family, by wearing
the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.

Resolved, That these proceedings be communicated to the House of
Representatives.

TABLE

OF THE

PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Term.

Time of Service.

Years.

Mos.

Days.

' 1

1.

George Washington, 1st & 2d.

1789 to 1797,

8

• ]

2.

John Adams, . . .3d.

1797 to 1801,

4

■1

3.

Thomas Jefferson, . 4th & 5th.

1801 to 1809,

8 .

4.

James Madison, . 6th & 7th.

1809 to 1817^

8

5.

James Monroe, . 8th & 9th.

1817 to 1825,

8

6.

John Quincy Adams, . 10th.

1825 to 1829,

4

7.

Andrew Jackson, 11th & 12th.

1829 to 1837,

8

i

8.

Martin Van Buren, . . 13 th.

1837 to 1841,

4

9.

William Henry Harrison, 14th.

} 1841 to 1841,
J 1841 to 1845,

1

i

10.

John Tyler, . . . 14th.

3

11

11.

James Knox Polk, . 15th.

1845 to 1849,

4

1

12.

Zaehary Taylor, . . 16th.

/ 1849 to 1850,
J 1850 to 1853,

1

4

5

1

13.

Millard Fillmore, . . 16th.

2

7

26

14.

Franklin Pierce,

1853 to

•

i

The following Table of the dates in which Mr. Webster was in Con-
gress will be found convenient.

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS.

FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE.

1813
1815

to
to

1815.
1817.

FROM MASSACHUSETTS.

1823

1825

to
to

1825.

1827.

SENATOR IN CONGRESS.

1827 to 1833.

1833 to 1839.

1839 to 1841, resigned February 22.

1845 to 1850, resigned July 22.

SECRETARY OF STATE TO THE UNITED STATES.

1841 to 1843, resigned May 8.
1850 to 1852, to decease, October 24.

(12)

CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

SELECTIONS FROM THE WRITINGS

OF

DANIEL WEBSTER.

FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW ENGLAND.

Discourse delivered at Plymouth, on the 22d of December, 1820.

Let us rejoice that we behold this day. Let us be thank-
ful that we have lived to see the bright and happy breaking
of the auspicious morn, which commences the third century
of the history of New England. Auspicious, indeed, —
bringing a happiness beyond the common allotment of Prov-
idence to men, — full of present joy, and gilding with bright
beams the prospect of futurity, is the dawn that awakens us
to the commemoration of the landing of the Pilgrims.

Living at an epoch which naturally marks the progress of
the history of our native land, we have come hither to cele-
brate the great event with which that history commenced.
For ever honored be this, the place of our fathers' refuge !
For ever remembered the day which saw them, weary and
distressed, broken in every thing but spirit, poor in all but
faith and courage, at last secure from the dangers of wintry
seas, and impressing this shore with the first footsteps of
civilized man !

It is a noble faculty of our nature which enables us to
connect our thoughts, our sympathies, and our happiness
with what is distant in place or time ; and, looking before
and after, to hold communion at once with our ancestors
and our posterity. Human and mortal although we are, we
are nevertheless not mere insulated beings, without relation to
the past or the future. Neither the point of time, nor the
spot of earth, in which we physically live, bounds our ra-

(13)

14 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tional and intellectual enjoyments. We live in the past by
a knowledge of its history ; and in the future by hope and
anticipation. By ascending to an association with our an-
cestors ; by contemplating their example and studying their
character ; by partaking their sentiments, and imbibing their
spirit ; by accompanying them in their toils, by sympathizing
in their sufferings, and rejoicing in their successes and their
triumphs ; we seem to belong to their age, and to mingle our
own existence with theirs. We become their contempora-
ries, live the lives which they lived, endure what they en-
dured, and partake in the rewards which they enjoyed.
And in like manner, by running along the line of future
pme, by contemplating the probable fortunes of those who
are coming after us, by attempting something which may
promote their happiness, and leave some not dishonorable
memorial of ourselves for their regard, when we shall sleep
with the fathers, we protract our own earthly being, and
seem to crowd whatever is future, as well as all that is past,
into the narrow compass of our earthly existence. As it is
not a vain and false, but an exalted and religious imagina-
tion, which leads us to raise our thoughts from the orb,
which, amidst this universe of worlds, the Creator has given
us to inhabit, and to send them with something of .the feel-
ing which nature prompts, and teaches to be proper among
children of the same Eternal Parent, to the contemplation
of the myriads of fellow-beings, with which his goodness
has peopled the infinite of space ; so neither is it false or
vain to consider ourselves as interested and connected with
our whole race, through all time ; allied to our ancestors ;
allied to our posterity ; closely compacted on all sides with
others ; ourselves being but links in the great chain of be-
ing, which begins with the origin of our race, runs onward
through its successive generations, binding together the past,
the present, and the future, and terminating at last, with the
consummation of all things earthly, at the throne of God.

There may be, and there often is, indeed, a regard for
ancestry, which nourishes only ?i weak pride ; as there is
also a care for posterity, which only disguises an habitual
avarice, or hides the workings of a low and grovelling vanity.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 15

But there is also a moral and philosophical respect for our
ancestors, which elevates the character and improves the
heart. Next to the sense of religious duty and moral feel-
ing, I hardly know what should bear with stronger obliga-
tion on a liberal and enlightened mind, than a consciousness
of alliance with excellence which is departed ; and a con-
sciousness, too, that in its acts and conduct, and even in its
sentiments and thoughts, it may be actively o])erating on the
happiness of those who come after it.

Standing in this relation to our ancestors and our posteri-
ty, we are assembled on this memorable spot, to perform
the duties wliich that relation and the present occasion im-
pose upon us. We have come to this Rock, to record here
our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers; our sympathy in their
sufferings ; our gratitude for their labors ; our admiration
of their virtues ; our veneration for their piety ; and our
attachment to those principles of civil and religious liberty,
which they encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms
of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and fam-
ine, to enjoy and to establish. And we would leave here,
also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill
our places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit
the great inheritance unimpaired ; that in our estimate of
public principles and private virtue, in our veneration of re-
ligion and piety, in our devotion to civil and religious liberty,
in our regard for whatever advances human knowledge or
improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy
of our origin.

There is a local feeling connected with this occasion, too
strong to be resisted ; a sort of genius of the place, which
inspires and awes us. We feel that we are on the spot where
the first scene of our history was laid ; where the hearths
and altars of New England were first placed ; where Chris-
tianity, and civilization, and letters made their first' lodg-
ment, in a vast extent of country, covered with a wilderness,
and peopled by roving barbarians. We are here, at the season
of the year at which the event took place. The imagina-
tion irresistibly and rapidly draws around us the principal
features and the leading characters in the original scene.

16 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

We cast our eyes abroad on the ocean, and we see where
the httle bark, with the interestmg group upon its deck,
made its slow progress to the shore. We look around us,
and behold the hills and promontories where the anxious
eyes of our fathers first saw the places of habitation and of
rest. We feel the cold which benumbed, and listen to the
winds which pierced them. Beneath us is the Rock, on
which New England received the feet of the Pilgrims. We
seem even to behold them, as they struggle with the ele-
ments, and, with toilsome efforts, gain the shore. We listen
to the chiefs in council ; we see the unexampled exhibition
of female fortitude and resignation ; we hear the whisperings
of youthful impatience, and we see, what a painter of our
own has also represented by his pencil, chilled and shivering
childhood, houseless, but for a mother's arms, couchless, but
for a mother's breast, till our own blood almost freezes.

The settlement of New England by the colony which
landed here on the twenty-second of December, sixteen
hundred and twenty, although not the first European estab-
lishment in what now constitutes the United States, was yet
so peculiar in its causes and character, and has been followed
and must still be followed by such consequences, as to give
it a high claim to lasting commemoration. On these causes
and consequences, more than on its immediately attendant
circumstances, its importance, as an historical event, depends.

Of the motives which influenced the first settlers to a vol-
untary exile, induced them to relinquish their native country,
and to seek an asylum in this then unexplored wilderness,
the first and principal, ho doubt, were connected with reli-
gion. They sought to enjoy a higher degree of religious
freedom, and what they esteemed a purer form of religious
worship, than was allowed to their choice, or presented to
their imitation, in the Old World. The love of religious
liberty is a stronger sentiment, when fully excited, than an
attachment to civil or pohtical freedom. That freedom
which the conscience demands, and which men feel bound
by their hope of salvation to contend for, can hardly fail to
be attained. Conscience, in the cause of religion and the
worship of the Deity, prepares the mind to act and to suffer

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 17

beyond almost all other causes. It sometimes gives an im-
pulse so irresistible, that no fetters of power or of opinion
can withstand it. History instructs us that this love of re-
ligious liberty, a compound sentiment in the breast of man,
made up of the clearest sense of right and the highest con-
viction of duty, is able to look the sternest despotism in the
face, and, with means apparently most inadequate, to shake
principalities and powers. There is a boldness, a spirit of
daring, in religious reformers, not to be measured by the
general rules which control men's purposes and actions. If
the hand of power be laid upon it, this only seems to aug-
ment its force and its elasticity, and to cause its action to be
more formidable and violent. Human invention has devised
nothing, human power has compassed nothing, that can for-
cibly restrain it, when it breaks forth. Nothing can stop
it, but to give way to it ; nothing can check it, but indul-
gence. It loses its power only when it has gained its
object. The principle of toleration, to which the world
has come so slowly, is at once the most just and the
most wise of all principles. Even when religious feeling
takes a character of extravagance and enthusiasm, and
seems to threaten the order of society and shake the col-
umns of the social edifice, its principal danger is in its re-
straint. If it be allowed indulgence and expansion, like
the elemental fires, it only agitates, and perhaps purifies, the
atmosphere ; while its efforts to throw off restraint would
burst the world asunder.

The peculiar character, condition, and circumstances of
the colonies which introduced civilization and an English
race into New England, afford a most interesting and ex-
tensive topic of discussion. On these, much of our subse-
quent character and fortune has depended. Their influence
has essentially affected our whole history, through the two
centuries which have elapsed ; and as they have become in-
timately connected with government, laws, and property, as
well as with our opinions on the subjects of religion and
civil liberty, that influence is likely to continue to be felt
through the centuries which shall succeed. Emigration
from one region to another, and the emission of colonies to
2

18 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

people countries more or less distant from the residence of
the parent stock, are common incidents in the history of
mankind ; but it has not often, perhaps never, happened,
that the estabHshment of colonies should be attempted under
circumstances, however beset with present difficulties and
dangers, yet so favorable to ultimate success, and so condu-
cive to magnificent results, as those which attended the first
settlements on this part of the American continent. In
other instances, emigration has proceeded from a less exalted
purpose, in periods of less general intelligence, or more
without plan and by accident ; or under circumstances, phys-
ical and moral, less favorable to the expectation of laying
a foundation for great public prosperity and future empire.

A great resemblance exists, obviously, between all the
English colonies established within the present limits of the
United States ; but the occasion attracts our attention more
immediately to those which took possession of New Eng-
land, and the peculiarities of these furnish a strong contrast
with most other instances of colonization.

Different, indeed, most widely diflTerent, from all other in-
stances of emigration and plantation, were the condition,
the purposes, and the prospects of our fathers, when they
established their infant colony upon this spot. They came
hither to a land from' which they were never to return.
Hither they had brought, and here they were to fix, their
hopes, their attachments, and their objects in life. Some nat-
ural tears they shed, as they left the pleasant abodes of their
fathers, and some emotions they suppressed, when the white
clitFs of their native country, now seen for the last time,
grew dim to their sight. They were acting, however, upon
a resolution not to be daunted. With whatever stifled regrets,
with whatever occasional hesitation, with whatever appalling
apprehensions, which might sometimes arise with force to
shake the firmest purpose, they had yet committed them-
selves to Heaven and the elements ; and a thousand leagues
of water soon interposed to separate them forever from the
region which gave them birth. A new existence awaited
them here ; and when they saw these shores, rough, cold,
barbarous, and barren, as then they were, they beheld their

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 19

country. That mixed and strong feeling, which we call
love of country, and which is, in general, never extinguished
in the heart of man, grasped and embraced its proper ob-
ject here. Whatever constitutes country, except the earth
and the sun, all the moral causes of affection and attachment
which operate upon the heart, they had brought with them
to their new abode. Here were now their families and
friends, their homes, and their property. Before they
reached the shore, they had established the elements of a
social system, and at a much earlier period had settled their
forms of religious worship. At the moment of tJieir land-
ing, therefore, they possessed institutions of government,
and institutions of religion : and friends and families, and
social and religious institutions, framed by consent, founded
on choice and preference, how nearly do these fill up our
whole idea of country ! The morning that beamed on the
first night of their repose saw the Pilgrims already at home
in their country. There were pohtical institutions, and civil
liberty, and religious worship. Poetry has fancied nothing,
in the wanderings of heroes, so distinct and characteristic.
Here was man, indeed, unprotected, and unprovided for, on
the shore of a rude and fearful wilderness ; but it was poli-
tic, intelligent, and educated man. Every thing w^as civilized
but the physical world. Institutions, containing in substance
all that ages had done for human government, were organized
in a forest. Cultivated mind was to act on uncultivated na-
ture ; and, more than all, a government and a country were
to commence, with the very first foundations laid under the
divine light of the Christian religion. Happy auspices of a
happy futurity ! Who would wish that his country's exist-
ence had otherwise begun 1 Who would desire the power
of going back to the ages of fable ? Who would wish for
an origin obscured in the darkness of antiquity 1 Who
would wish for other emblazoning of his country's heraldry,
or other ornaments of her genealogy, than to be able to say,
that her first existence was with intelligence, her first breath
the inspiration of liberty, her first principle the truth of
divine religion ?

Local attachments and sympathies would ere long spring

20 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

up in the breasts of our ancestors, endearing to them the
place of their refuge. Whatever natural objects are asso
ciated with interesting scenes and high efforts, obtain a hold
on human feeling, and demand from the heart a sort of rec-
ognition and regard. This Rock soon became hallowed
in the esteem of the Pilgrims, and these hills grateful to
their sight. Neither they nor their children were again to
till the soil of England, nor again to traverse the seas which
surround her. ' But here was a new sea, now open to their
enterprise, and a new soil, which had not failed to respond
gratefully to their laborious industry, and which was already
assuming a robe of verdure. Hardly had they provided
shelter for the living, ere they were summoned to erect
sepulchres for the dead. The ground had become sacred,
by enclosing the remains of some of their companions and
connections. A parent, a child, a husband, or a wife, had
gone the way of all flesh, and mingled with the dust of
New England. We naturally look with strong emotions
to the spot, though it be a wilderness, where the ashes of
those we have loved repose. Where the heart has laid
down what it loved most, there it is desirous of laying it-
self down. No sculptured marble, no enduring monument,
no honorable inscription, no ever-burning taper that would
drive away the darkness of the tomb, can soften our sense
of the reality of death, and hallow to our feelings the
ground which is to cover us, like the consciousness that we
shall sleep, dust to dust, with the objects of our affections.

In a short time other causes sprung up to bind the Pil-
grims with new cords to their chosen land. Children were
born, and the hopes of future generations arose, in the spot
of their new habitation. The second generation found this
the land of their nativity, and saw that they were bound to
its fortunes. They beheld their fathers' graves around them,
and while they read the memorials of their toils and labors,
they rejoiced in the inheritance which they found bequeathed
to them.

Under the influence of these causes, it was to be expected,
that an interest and a feeling should arise here, entirely dif-
ferent from the interest and feeling of mere Englishmen ;

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 21

and all the subsequent history of the Colonies proves this
to have actually and gradually taken place. With a general
acknowledgment of the supremacy of the British crown,
there was, from the first, a repugnance to an entire submis-
sion to the control of British legislation. The Colonies
stood upon their charters, which, as they contended, ex-
empted them from the ordinary power of the British Par-
liament, and authorized them to conduct their own concerns
by their own counsels. They utterly resisted the notion
that they were to be ruled by the mere authority of the
government at home, and would not endure even that their
own charter governments should be established on the other
side of the Atlantic. It was not a controlling or pro ecting
board in England, but a government of their own, and
existing immediately within their limits, which could satisfy
their wishes. It w^as easy to foresee, what we know also to
have happened, that the first great cause of collision and
jealousy would be, under the notion of political economy
then and still prevalent in Europe, an attempt on the part
of the mother country to monopolize the trade of the Colo-
nies. Whoever has looked deeply into the causes which
produced our Revolution has found, if I mistake not, the
original principle far back in this claim, on the part of Eng-
land, to monopolize our trade, and a continued efi'ort on the
part of the Colonies to resist or evade that monopoly ; if,
indeed, it be not still more just and philosophical to go far-
ther back, and to consider it decided, that an independent
government must arise here, the moment it was ascertained
that an English colony, such as landed in this place, could
sustain itself against the dangers which surrounded it, and,
with other similar establishments, overspread the land with an
English population. Accidental causes retarded at times,
and at times accelerated, the progress of the controversy.
The Colonies wanted strength, and time gave it to them.
They required measures of strong and palpable injustice,
on the part of the mother country, to justify resistance ; the
early part of the late king's reign furnished them. They
needed spirits of high order, of great daring, of long fore-
bight, and of commanding power, to seize the favoring oc-

23 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

casion to strike a blow, which should sever, for all time, the
tie of colonial dependence ; and these spirits were found, in
all the extent which that or any crisis could demand, in Otis,
Adams, Hancock, and the other immediate authors of our
independence.

When the first century closed, the progress of the coun-
try appeared to have been considerable ; notwithstanding
that, in comparison with its subsequent advancement, it now
seems otherwise. A broad and lasting foundation had been
laid ; excellent institutions had been established ; many of
the prejudices of former times had been removed ; a more
liberal and catholic spirit on subjects of religious concern
had begun to extend itself, and many things conspired to
give promise of increasijig future prosperity. Great men
had arisen in public life, and the liberal professions. The
Mathers, father and son, were then sinking low in the west-
ern horizon ; Leverett, the learned, the accomplished, the
excellent Leverett, was about to withdraw his brilliant and
useful light. In Pemberton great hopes had been suddenly
extinguished, but Prince and Coleman were in our sky;
and along the east had begun to flash the crepuscular light
of a great luminary which was about to appear, and which
was to stamp the age with his own name, as the age of
Franklin.

The second century opened upon New England under
circumstances which evinced that much had already been
accomplished, and that still better prospects and brighter
hopes were before her. She had laid, deep and strong, the
foundations of her society. Her religious principles were
firm, and her moral habits exemplary. Her pubhc schools
had begun to diffuse widely the elements of knowledge ; and
the College, under the excellent and acceptable administra-
tion of Leverett, had been raised to a high degree of credit
and usefulness.

The commercial character of the country, notwithstand-
ing all discouragements, had begun to display itself, and j/?z?e
hundred vessels, then belonging to Massachusetts, placed her,
in relation to commerce, thus early at the head of the Colo-
nies. An author who wrote very near the close of the first

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 23

century says : — " New England is almost deserving that
noble name, so mightily hath it increased ; and from a small
settlement at first, is now become a very populous and flour'
ishing government. The capital city, Boston, is a place of
great wealth and trade ; and by much the largest of any in
the English empire of America ; and not exceeded but by
few cities, perhaps two or three, in all the American world.'*

In New England the war of the Revolution commenced.
I address those who remember the memorable 19th of April,
1775; who shortly after saw the burning spires of Charles-
town : who beheld the deeds of Prescott, and heard the
voice of Putnam amidst the storm of war, and saw the gen-
erous Warren fall, the first distinguished victim in the cause
of liberty. It would be superfluous to say, that no portion
of the country did more than the States of New England
to bring the Revolutionary strugji^le to a successful issue.
It is scarcely less to her credit, that she saw early the ne-
cessity of a closer union of the States, and gave an efficient
and indispensable aid to the estabhshment and organization
of the federal government.

Internal improvement followed the establishment and pros-
perous commencement of the present government. More
has been done for roads, canals, and other public works,
within the last thirty years, than in all our former history.
In the first of these particulars, few countries excel the
New England States. The astonishing increase of their
navigation and trade is known to every one, and now be-
longs to the history of our national wealth.

We may flatter ourselves, too, that literature and taste
have not been stationary, and that some advancement has
been made in the elegant, as well as in the useful arts.

The nature and constitution of society and government
in this country are interesting topics, to which I would de-
vote what remains of the time allowed to this occasion. Of
our system of government the first thing to be said is, that
it is really and practically a free system. It originates en-
tirely with the people, and rests on no other foundation than
their assent. To judge of its actuVl operation, it is not
enough to look merely at the form of its construction. The

24 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

practical character of government depends often on a variety
of considerations, besides the abstract frame of its con-
stitutional organization. Among these are the condition
and tenure of property ; the laws regulating its alienation
and descent ; the presence or absence of a military power ;
an armed or unarmed yeomanry ; the spirit of the age, and
the degree of general intelligence. In these respects it can-
not be denied that the circumstances of this country are
most favorable to the hope of maintaining the government
of a great nation on principles entirely popular. In the
absence of military power, the nature of government must
essentially depend on the manner in which property is holden
and distributed. There is a natural influence belonging to
property, whether it exists in many hands or few ; and it is
on the rights of property that both despotism and unre-
strained popular violence ordinarily commence their attacks.
Our ancestors began their system of government here under
a condition of comparative equality in regard to wealth, and
their early laws w^ere of a nature to favor and continue this
equality.

A republican form of government rests not more on po-
litical constitutions, than on those laws vrhich regulate the
descent and transmission of property. Governments like
ours could not have been maintained, where property was
holden according to the principles of the feudal system ;
nor, on the other hand, could the feudal constitution possibly
exist with us. Our New England ancestors brought hither no
great capitals from Europe ; and if they had, there was noth-
ing productive in which they could have been invested. They
left behind them the whole feudal policy of the other conti-
nent. They broke away at once from the system of military
service established in the Dark Ages, and which continues,
down even to the present time, more or less to affect the
condition of property all over Europe. They came to a
new country. There were, as yet, no lands yielding rent,
and no tenants rendering service. The whole soil was unre-
claimed from barbarism. They were themselves, either
from their original condition, or from the necessity of their
common interest, nearly on a general level in respect to

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 2S

property. Their situation demanded a parcelling out and
division of the lands, and it may be fairly said, that this
necessary diCt fixed the future frame and form of their govern-
ment. The character of their pohtical institutions was de-
termined by the fundamental laws respecting property.
The laws rendered estates divisible among sons and daugh-
ters. The right of primogeniture, at first limited and cur-
tailed, was afterwards abolished. The property was all
freehold. The entailment of estates, long trusts, and the
other processes for fettering and tying up inheritances, were
not applicable to the condition of society, and seldom made
use of. On the contrary, alienation of the land was every
way facilitated, even to the subjecting of it to every species
of debt. The establishment of public registries, and the
simplicity of our forms of conveyance, have greatly facili-
tated the change of real estate from one proprietor to another.
The consequence of all these causes has been, a great sub-
division of the soil, and a great equality of condition ; the
true basis, most certainly, of a popular government. " If
the people," says Harrington, " hold three parts in four of
the territory, it is plain there can neither be any single per-
son nor nobility able to dispute the government with them ;
in this case, therefore, except force he interposed, they govern
themselves."

Connected with this division of property, an^d the con-
sequent participation of the great mass of people in its
possession and enjoyments, is the system of representation,
v/hich is admirably accommodated to our condition, better
understood among us, and more familiarly and extensively
practised, in the higher and in the lower departments
of government, than it has been by any other people.
Great facility has been given to this in New England by the
early division of the country into townships or small dis-
tricts, in which all concerns of local police are regulated,
and in which representatives to the legislature are elected.
Nothing can exceed the utility of these httle bodies. They
are so many councils or parliaments, in which common in-
terests are discussed, and useful knowledge acquired and
communicated.

26 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

I must yet advert to another most interesting topic, — the
Free Schools. In this particular, New England may be al-
lowed to claim, I think, a merit of a peculiar character. She
early adopted and has constantly maintained the principle, that
it is the undoubted right and the bounden duty of government
to provide for the instruction of all youth. That which is
elsewhere left to chance or to charity, we secure by law.
For the purpose of public instruction, we hold every man
subject to taxation in proportion to his property, and we
look not to the question, whether he himself have, or have
not, children to be benefited by the education for which he
pays. We regard it as a wise and liberal system of police,
by which property, and life, and the peace of society are
secured. We seek to prevent in some measure the exten-
sion of the penal code, by inspiring a salutary and conserva-
tive principle of virtue and of knowledge in an early age.
We strive to excite a feeling of respectability, and a sense
of character, by enlarging the capacity and increasing the
sphere of intellectual enjoyment. By general instruction,
we seek, as far as possible, to purify the whole moral atmos-
phere ; to keep good sentiments uppermost, and to turn the
strong current of feeling and opinion, as well as the cen-
sures of the law and the denunciations of religion, against
immorality and crime. We hope for a security beyond the
law, and above the law, in the prevalence of an enlightened
and well-principled moral sentiment. We hope to continue
and prolong the time, when, in the villages and farm houses
of New England, there may be undisturbed sleep within
unbarred doors. And knowing that our government rests
directly on the public will, in order that we may preserve it
we endeavor to give a safe and proper direction to that public
will. We do not, indeed, expect all men to be philosophers
or statesmen ; but we confidently trust, and our expectation
of the duration of our system of government rests on that
trust, that, by the diffusion of general knowledge and good
and virtuous sentiments, the political fabric may be secure,
as well against open violence and overthrow, as against
the slow, but sure, undermining of licentiousness.

A conviction of the importance of public instruction was

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 27

one of the earliest sentiments of our ancestors. No law-
giver of ancient or modern times has expressed more just
opinions, or adopted wiser measures, than the early records
of the Colony of Plymouth show to have prevailed here.
Assembled on this very spot, a hundred and fifty-three years
ago, the legislature of this Colony declared, "Forasmuch as
the maintenance of good literature doth much tend to the ad-
vancement of the weal and flourishing state of societies and
republics, this Court doth therefore order, that in whatever
township in this government, consisting of fifty families or
upwards, any meet man shall be obtained to teach a gram-
mar school, such tovi^nship shall allow at least twelve pounds,
to be raised by rate on all the inhabitants."

Having provided that all youth should be instructed in
the elements of learning by the institution of free schools,
our ancestors had yet another duty to perform. Men v/ere
to be educated for the professions and the public. For this
purpose they founded the University, and with incredible
zeal and perseverance they cherished and supported it,
through all trials and discouragements. On the subject of
the University, it is not possible for a son of P^ew England
to think without pleasure, or to speak without emotion.
Nothing confers more honor on the State where it is estab-
lished, or more utility on the country at large. A respect-
able university is an establishment which must be the work
of time. If pecuniary means were not wanting, no new in-
stitution could possess character and respectability at once.
We owe deep obligation to our ancestors, who began, almost
on the moment of their arrival, the work of building up this
institution.

Lastly, our ancestors established their system of govern-
ment on morality and religious sentiment. Moral habits,
they believed, cannot safely be trusted on any other founda-
tion than religious principle, nor any government be secure
which is not supported by moral habits. Living under the
heavenly light of revelation, they hoped to find all the social
dispositions, all the duties which men owe to each other and
to society, enforced and performed. Whatever makes men
good piiristians, makes them good citizens. Our fathers

28 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

came here to enjoy their rehgion free and unmolested ; and,
at the end of two centuries, there is nothing upon which we
can pronounce more confidently, nothing of which we can
express a more deep and earnest conviction, than of the in-
estimable importance of that religion to man, both in regard
to this life and that which is to come.

If the blessings of our political and social condition have
not been too highly estimated, we cannot well overrate the
responsibility and duty which they impose upon us. We
hold these institutions of government, rehgion, and learning,
to be transmitted, as well as enjoyed. We are in the line
of conveyance, through which whatever has been pbtained
by the spirit and efforts of our ancestors is to be communi-
cated to our children.

We are bound to maintain public liberty, and, by the
example of our own systems, to convince the world that
order and law, religion and morahty, the rights of con-
science, the rights of persons, and the rights of property,
may all be preserved and secured, in the most perfect man-
ner, by a government entirely and purely elective. If we fail
in this, our disaster will be signal, and will furnish an argu-
ment, stronger than has yet been found, in support of those
opinions which maintain that government can rest safely on
nothing but power and coercion. x4s far as experience may
show errors in our establishments, we are bound to correct
them ; and if any practices exist, contrary to the principles
of justice and humanity within the reach of our laws or our
influence, we are inexcusable if we do not exert ourselves
to restrain and abolish them.

We are bound, not only to maintain the general princi-
ples of public liberty, but to support also those existing
forms of government which have so well secured its enjoy-
ment, and so highly promoted the public prosperity. It is
now more than thirty years that these States have been
united under the Federal Constitution, 'and whatever fortune
may await them hereafter, it is impossible that this period
of their history should not be regarded as distinguished by
signal prosperity and success. They must be sanguine in-
deed, who can hope for benefit from change. Whatever

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 29

division of the public judgment may have existed in relation
to particular measures of the government, all must agree,
one should think, in the opinion, that in its general course
it has been eminently productive of public happiness. Its
most ardent friends could not well have hoped from it more
than it has accomplished ; and those who disbelieved or
doubted ought to feel less concerned about predictions which
the event has not verified, than pleasure in the good which
has been obtained. Whoever shall hereafter write this part
of our history, although he may see occasional errors or
defects, will be able to record no great failure in the ends
and objects of government. Still less will he be able to
record any series of lawless and despotic acts, or any suc-
cessful usurpation. His page will contain no exhibition of
provinces depopulated, of civil authority habitually tram-
pled down by military power, or of a community crushed
by the burden of taxation. He will speak, rather, of pub-
lic liberty protected, and public happiness advanced ; of
increased revenue, and population augmented beyond all
example ; of the growth of commerce, manufactures, and
the arts ; and of that happy condition, in which the restraint
and coercion of government are almost invisible and imper-
ceptible, and its influence felt only in the benefits which it
confers. We can entertain no better wish for our country,
than that this government may be preserved ; nor have a
clearer duty than to maintain and support it in the full ex-
ercise of all its just constitutional powers.

The cause of science and literature also imposes upon us
an important and delicate trust. The wealth and popula-
tion of the country are now so far advanced, as to authorize
the expectation of a correct literature and a well-formed
taste, as well as respectable progress in the abstruse sciences.
The country has risen from a state of colonial subjection ;
it has established an independent government, and is now
in the undisturbed enjoyment of peace and political security.
The elements of knowledge are universally diffused, and
the reading portion of the community is large. Let us
hope that the present may be an auspicious era of litera-
ture. If, almost on the day of their landing, our ancestors

30 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

founded schools and endowed colleges, what obligations do
not rest upon us, living under circumstances so much more
favorable both for providing and for using the means of
education 1 Literature becomes free institutions. It is the
graceful ornament of civil hbertj, and a happy restraint on
the asperities which political controversies sometimes occa-
sion. Just taste is not only an embellishment of society,
but it rises almost to the rank of the virtues, and diffuses
positive good throughout the whole extent of its influence.
There is a connection between right feeling and right prin-
ciples, and truth in taste is allied with truth in morality.
With nothing in our past history to discourage us, and with
something in our present condition and prospects to ani*-
mate us, let us hope, that, as it is our fortune to live in an
age when we may behold a wonderful advancement of the
country in all its other great interests, we may see also
equal progress and success attend the cause of letters.

Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our
origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high ven-
eration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its
light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate
its principles with the elements of their society, and to dif-
fuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political,
or literary. Let us cherish these sentiments, and extend
this influence still more widely ; in the full conviction, that
that is the happiest society which partakes in the highest
degree of the mild and peaceful spirit of Christianity.

The hours of this day are rapidly flying, and this occa-
sion will soon be passed. Neither we nor our children can
expect to behold its return. They are in the distant regions
of futurity, they exist only in the all-creating power of God,
who shall stand here a hundred years hence, to trace,
through us, their descent from the Pilgrims, and to survey,
as we have now surveyed, the progress of their country,
during the lapse of a century. We would anticipate their
concurrence with us in our sentiments of deep regard for
our common ancestors. We would anticipate and partake
the pleasure with which they will then recount the steps
of New England's advancement. On the morning of that

SELECTIONS FROM WETJSTER. 31

day, although it will not disturb us in our repose, the voice
of acclamation and gratitude, commencing on the Rock of
Plymouth, shall be transmitted through milhons of the sons
of the Pilgrims, till it lose itself in the murmurs of the
Pacific seas.

We would leave for the consideration of those who shall
then occupy our places, some proof that we hold the bless-
ings transmitted from our fathers in just estimation ; some
proof of our attachment to the cause of good government,
and of civil and religious liberty ; some proof of a sincere
and ardent desire to promote every thing which may en-
large the understandings and improve the hearts of men.
And when, from the long distance of a hundred years, they
shall look back upon us, they shall know, at least, that we
possessed aifections, which, running backward and warming
with gratitude for what our ancestors have done for our
happiness, run forward also to our posterity, and meet them
with cordial salutation, ere yet they have arrived on the
shore of being.

Advance, then, ye future generations ! We would hail
you, as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places
which we now fill, and to taste the blessings of existence
where we are passing, and soon shall have passed, our own
human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant
land of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful
skies and the verdant fields of New England. We greet
your accession to the great inheritance which we have en-
joyed. We welcome you to the blessings of good govern-
ment and religious liberty. We welcome you to the treas-
ures of science and the delights of learning. We welcome
you to the transcendent sweets of domestic life, to the hap-
piness of kindred, and parents, and children. We welcome
you to the immeasurable blessipgs of rational existence, the
immortal hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting
truth !

32 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK,

THE REVOLUTION IN GREECE.*

Speech delivered in the Hmise of Representatives of the United States, on the 19th
of January, 1824.

On the assembling of Congress, in December, 1823, President Mon-
roe made the revolution in Greece the subject of a paragraph in his
annual message, and on the 8th of December Mr. Webster moved the
following resolution in the House of Representatives : —

" Resolved, That provision ought to be made, by law, for defraying
the expense incident to the appointment of an Agent or Commissioner
to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make such
appointment."

* Since this article was in type, we have met with the following trib-
ute to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, delivered in the
Greek House of Representatives, December 17, 1852: —

On this day's session in the House of Representatives, Mr. Charmon-
zies. Deputy of Lamia, having taken the floor, proposed that the House
should express its regret on hearing of the death of two of the great
men of the United States, namely, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster;
and that their names be inscribed on the walls in the peribolus of the
Chamber.

The honorable Deputy introduced his proposition in the following
address : —

" When the wise government of a great nation — a government wor-
thy of respect for its virtues — ■ goes into mourning, lamenting with its
people the death of 'one of its citizens, that citizen truly must have been
a great man. And the privation of a great man is an irreparable loss
to all mankind. We took up arms to shake off a heavy yoke — a yoke
of reproach, and one difficult to be borne ; and the sanctity of our enter-
prise immediately found protection in the other hemisphere, where, among
many others, two truly distinguished men had effectually raised up their
Christian voice in behalf of the grievously suffering Greeks. Who
among us, the surviving combatants, has forgotten, or who among our
youth has not heard from his parents, that, independently of the ravages
of war, — famine and sickness were decimating us ? And who does not
know that the bread and clothing of the Americans of the United States
saved multitudes from the grasp of Chai'on ? And who doubts that, if
the noble and generous-minded citizens of the United States had lived
in our hemisphere, the Greek contest would have been terminated soon
er, and with more success 1

" Gratitude, Sirs, is a cardinal virtue of man ; and the Greek nation was
ever of old distinguished for this virtue. Our immortal ancestors erected
temples in honor of their benefactors. Among our benefactors, then,
are numbered, since 1822, the ever-memorable Daniel Webster and
Henry Clay, whose death a whole nation — the people of the United
States — this day lament. Let us. therefore, honorable representatives
of the Greek nation, unite our tears with those of our noble brothers, the
citizens of the United States, for this loss ; and, as proof of our grati-
tude, let us inscribe on the walls of this peribolus the glorious names of
the Philhellenes Daniel Webster and Henky Clay."

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 33

These, it is believed, are the first official expressions favorable to the
independence of Greece, uttered by any of the governments of Christen-
dom, and no doubt contributed powerfully towards the creation of that
feeling throughout the civilized world which eventually led to the battle
of Navarino, and the liberation of a portion of Greece from the Turkish
yoke.

The House of Eepresentatives having, on the 19th of January, re-
solved itself into a committee of the whole, and this resolution being
taken into consideration, Mr. Webster spoke to the following effect : —

I AM afraid, Mr. Chairman, that, so far as my part in this
discussion is concerned, those expectations which the public
excitement existing on the subject, and certain associations
easily suggested by it, have conspired to raise, may be dis-
appointed. An occasion which calls the attention to a spot
so distinguished, so connected with interesting recollections,
as Greece, may naturally create something of warmth and
enthusiasm. In a grave, political discussion, however, it is
necessary that those feelings should be chastised. I shall
endeavor properly to repress them, although it is impossible
that they should be altogether extinguished. We must, in-
deed, fly beyond the civilized world ; we must pass the do-
minion of law and the boundaries of knowledge ; we must,
more especially, withdraw ourselves from this place, and the
scenes and objects which here surround us, — if we would sep-
arate ourselves entirely from the influence of all those memori-
als of herself which ancient Greece has transmitted for the ad-
miration and the benefit of mankind. This free form of
government, this popular assembly, the common council held
for the common good, — where have we contemplated its
earliest models 1 This practice of free debate and public
discussion, the contest of mind with mind, and that popular
eloquence, which, if it were now here, on a subject like this,
would move the stones of the Capitol, — whose was the lan-
guage in which all these were first exhibited 1 Even the
edifice in which we assemble, these proportioned columns,
this ornamented architecture, all remind us that Greece has
existed, and that we, like the rest of mankind, are greatly
her debtors.

But I have not introduced this motion in the vain hope

34 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of discharging any thing of this accumulated debt of cen-
turies. I have not acted upon the expectation, that we, who
have inherited this obhgation from our ancestors, should
now attempt to pay it to those who may seem to have inherited
from their ancestors a right to receive payment. My object
is nearer and more immediate. 1 wish to take occasion of
the struggle of an interesting and gallant people, in the
cause of liberty and Christianity, to draw the attention of
the House to the circumstances which have accompanied
that struggle, and to the principles which appear to have
governed the conduct of the great states of Europe in re-
gard to it ; and to the effects and consequences of these
principles upon the independence of nations, and especially
upon the institutions of free governments. What I have to
say of Greece, therefore, concerns the modern, not the an-
cient ; the living, and not the dead. It regards her, not as
she exists in history, triumphant over time, and tyranny, and
ignorance ; but as she now is, contending, against fearful
odds, for being, and for the common privileges of human
nature.

As it is never difficult to recite commonplace remarks and
trite aphorisms, so it may be easy, I am aware, on this oc-
casion, to remind me of the wisdom which dictates to men
a care of their own affairs, and admonishes them, instead
of searching for adventures abroad, to leave other men's
concerns in their own hands. It may be easy to call this
resolution Quixotic,, the emanation of a crusading or propa-
gandist spirit. All this, and more, may be readily said ; but
all this, and more, will not be allowed to fix a character
upon this proceeding, until that is proved which it takes for
granted. Let it first be shown, that in this question there is
nothing which can affect the interest, the character, or the
duty of this country. Let it be proved, that we are not
called upon, by either of these considerations, to express an
opinion on the subject to which the resolution relates. Let
this be proved, and then it will indeed be made out, that
neither ought this resolution to pass, nor ought the sub-
ject of it to have been mentioned in the communication of
the President to us. But, in my opinion, this cannot be

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. M

shown. In my judgment, the subject is interesting- to the
people and the government of this country, and we are
called upon, by considerations of great weight and moment,
to express our opinions upon it. These considerations, I
think, spring from a sense of our own duty, our character, and
our own interest. 1 wish to treat the subject on such grounds,
exclusively, as are truly American ; but then, in considering
it as an American question, I cannot forget the age in which
we live, the prevailing spirit of the age, the interesting ques-
tions which agitate it, and our own peculiar relation in
regard to these interesting questions. Let this be, then,
and as far as I am concerned I hope it will be, purely an
American discussion ; but let it embrace, nevertheless, every
thing that fairly concerns America. Let it comprehend, not
merely her present advantage, but her permanent interest,
her elevated character as one of the free states of the world,
and her duty towards those great principles which have hith-
erto maintained the relative independence of nations, and
which have, more especially, made her what she is.

At the commencement of the session, the President, in
the discharge of the high duties of his office, called our
attention to the subject to which this resolution refers. " A
strong hope," says that communication, " has been long en-
tertained, founded on the heroic struggle of the Greeks, that
they would succeed in their contest, and resume their equal
station among the nations of the earth. It is beheved that
the whole civilized world takes a deep interest in their wel-
fare. Although no power has declared in their favor, yet
none, according to our information, has taken part against
tliem. Their cause and their name have protected them
from dangers which might ere this have overwhelmed any
other people. The ordinary calculations of interest, and of
acquisition with a view to aggrandizement, which mingle so
much in the transactions of nations, seem to have had no effect
in regard to them. From the facts which have come to our
knowledge, there is good cause to believe that their enemy
has lost for ever all dominion over them ; tliat Greece will
become again an independent nation."

It has appeared to me that the House should adopt some

36 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

resolution reciprocating these sentiments, so far as it shall
approve them. More than twenty years have elapsed since
Congress first ceased to receive such a communication from
the President as could properly be made the subject of a
general answer. I do not mean to find fault with this re-
linquishment of a former and an ancient practice. It may
have been attended with inconveniences which justified its
abolition. But, certainly, there was one advantage belong-
ing to it ; and that is, that it furnished a fit opportunity for
the expression of the opinion of the houses of Congress
upon those topics in the executive communication which
were not expected to be made the immediate subjects of di-
rect legislation. Since, therefore, the President's message
does not now receive a general answer, it has seemed to me
to be proper that, in some mode, agreeable to our own
usual form of proceeding, we should express our sentiments
upon the important and interesting topics on which it treats.

If the sentiments of the message in respect to Greece be
proper, it is equally proper that this House should recipro-
cate those sentiments. The present resolution is designed
to have that extent, and no more. If it pass, it will leave
any future proceeding where it now is, in the discretion of
the executive government. It is but an expression, under
those fornris in which the House is accustomed to act, of
the satisfaction of the House with the general sentiments
expressed in regard to this subject in the message, and of
its readiness to defray the expense incident to any inquiry
for the purpose of further information, or any other agency
which the President, in his discretion, shall see fit, in what-
ever manner and at whatever time, to institute. The whole
matter is still left in his judgment, and this resolution can
in no way restrain its unlimited exercise.

I might well, Mr. Chairman, avoid the responsibility of
this measure, if it had, in my judgment, any tendency to
change the policy of the country. With the general course
of that policy I am quite satisfied. The nation is prosper-
ous, peaceful, and happy; and I should very reluctantly put
its peace, prosperity, or happiness at risk. It appears to
me, however, that this resolution is strictly conformable to

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 37

our general policy, and not only consistent with our interests,
but even demanded by a large and liberal view of those interests.

It is certainly true that the just policy of this country is,
in the first place, a peaceful pohcy. No nation ever had
less to expect from forcible aggrandizement. The mighty
agents which are working out our greatness are time, indus-
try, and the arts. Our augmentation is by growth, not by ac-
quisition ; by internal development, not by external accession.
No schemes can be suggested to us so magnificent as the
prospects which a sober contemplation of our own condition,
unaided by projects, uninfluenced by ambition, fairly spreads
before us. A country of such vast extent, with such varieties
of soil and climate, with so much public spirit and private
enterprise, with a population increasing so much beyond
former example, with capacities of improvement not only
unapplied or unexhausted, but even, in a great measure,
as yet unexplored, — so free in its institutions, so mild in
its laws, so secure in the title it confers on every man to
his own acquisitions, — needs nothing but time and peace to
carry it forward to almost any point of advancement.

In the next place, I take it for granted that the policy of
this country, springing from the nature of our government
and the spirit of all our institutions, is, so far as it respects
the interesting questions which agitate the present age, on
the side of liberal and enlightened sentiments. The age is
extraordinary ; the spirit that actuates it is peculiar and
marked ; and our own relation to the times we live in, and
to the questions which interest them, is equally marked and
peculiar. We are placed, by our good fortune and the wis-
dom and valor of our ancestors, in a condition in which we
can act no obscure part. Be it for honor, or be it for dis-
honor, whatever we do is sure to attract the observation of
the world. As one of the free states among the nations, as
a great and rapidly rising republic, it would be impossible
for us, if we were so disposed, to prevent our principles, our
sentiments, and our example from producing some eifect
upon the opinions and hopes of society throughout the civil-
ized world. It rests probably with ourselves to determine
whether the influence of these shall be salutary or pernicious.

38 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Sir, the Greeks have done much. It would be great injustice
to compare their achievements with our own. We began
our Revolution, already possessed of government, and, com-
paratively, of civil liberty. Our ancestors had from the first
been accustomed in a great measure to govern themselves.
They were familiar with popular elections and legislative
assemblies, and well acquainted with the general principles
and practice of free governments. They had little else to
do than to throw off the paramount authority of the parent
state. Enough was still left, both of law and of organiza-
tion, to conduct society in its accustomed course, and to unite
men together for a common object. The Greeks, of course,
could act wtih little concert at the beginning; they were un-
accustomed to the exercise of power, without experience,
with limited knowledge, without aid, and surrounded by na-
tions which, whatever claims the Greeks might seem to have
upon them, have afforded them nothing but discouragement
and reproach. They have held out, however, for three
campaigns ; and that, at least, is something. Constantino-
ple and the northern provinces have sent forth thousands of
troops ; — they have been defeated. Tripoli, and Algiers,
and Egypt, have contributed their marine contingents ; —
they have not kept the ocean. Hordes of Tartars have
crossed the Bosphorus ; — they have died where the Per-
sians died. The powerful monarchies in the neighborhood
have denounced their cause, and admonished them to aban-
don it and submit to their fate. They have answered them,
that, although two hundred thousand of their countrymen
have offered up their lives, there yet remain lives to offer ;
and that it is the determination of all, *' yes, of all," to per-
severe until they shall have established their liberty, or until
the power of their oppressors shall have relieved them from
the burden of existence.

It may now be asked, perhaps, whether the expression of
our own sympathy, and that of the country, may do them
good ? I hope it may. It may give them courage and
spirit, it may assure them of public regard, teach them that
they are not wholly forgotten by the civilized world, and
inspire them with constancy in the pursuit of their great end.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 2$

At any rate, sir, it appears to me that the measure which I
have proposed is due to our own character, and called for
by our own duty. When we shall have discharged that duty,
we may leave the rest to the disposition of Providence.

I do not see how it can be doubted that this measure is
entirely pacific. I profess my inability to perceive that it
has any possible tendency to involve our neutral relations.
If the resolution pass, it is not of necessity to be immediately
acted on. It will not be acted on at all, unless, in the opin-
ion of the President, a proper and safe occasion for acting
upon it shall arise. If we adopt the resolution to-day, our
relations with every foreign state will be to-morrow precise-
ly what they now are. The resolution will be sufficient to
express our sentiments on the subjects to which I have ad-
verted. Useful for that purpose, it can be mischievous for
no purpose. If the topic were properly introduced into the
message, it cannot be improperly introduced into discussion
in this House. If it were proper, which no one doubts, for
the President to express his opinions upon it, it cannot, I
think, be improper for us to express ours. The only certain
effect of this resolution is to signify, in a form usual in bodies
constituted like this, our approbation of the general sentiment
of the message. Do we wish to withhold that approbation 1
The resolution confers on the President no new power, nor
does it enjoin on him the exercise of any new duty ; nor
does it hasten him in the discharge of any existing duty.

I cannot imagine that this resolution can add any thing
to those excitements which it has been supposed, I think
very causelessly, might possibly provoke the Turkish gov-
ernment to acts of hostility. There is already the message,
expressing the hope of success to the Greeks and disaster
to the Turks, in a much stronger manner than is to be im-
plied from the terms of this resolution. There is the cor-
respondence between the Secretary of State and the Greek
Agent in London, already made public, in which similar
wishes are expressed, and a continuance of the correspond-
ence apparently invited. I might add to this, the unex-
ampled burst of feeling which this cause has called forth
from all classes of society, and the notorious fact of pecu-

40 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

niary contributions made throughout the country for its aid
and advancement. After all this, whoever can see cause
of danger to our pacific relations from the adoption of this res-
olution has a keener vision than I can pretend to. Sir, there
is no augmented danger ; tliere is no danger. The ques-
tion comes at last to this, vt^hether, on a subject of this sort,
this House holds an opinion which is worthy to be expressed.

Even suppose. Sir, an agent or commissioner were to be
immediately sent, — a measure which I myself believe to be
the proper one, — there is no breach of neutrality, nor any
just cause of offence. Such an agent, of course, would not
be accredited ; he would not be a public minister. The ob-
ject would be inquiry and information ; inquiry which we
have a right to make, information which we are interested
to possess. If a dismemberment of the Turkish empire be
taking place, or has already taken place ; if a new state be
rising, or be already risen, in the Mediterranean, — who can
doubt, that, without any breach of neutrality, we may inform
ourselves of these events for the government of our own
concerns 1 The Greeks have declared the Turkish coasts
in a state of blockade ; may we not inform ourselves whether
this blockade be nominal or real? and, of course, whether
it shall be regarded or disregarded ? The greater our trade
may happen to be with Smj^rna, a consideration which seems
to have alarmed some gentlemen, the greater is the reason,
in my opinion, why we should seek to be accurately informed
of those events which may affect its safety. It seems to me
impossible, therefore, for any reasonable man to imagine
that this resolution can expose us to the resentment of the
Sublime Porte.

As little reason is there for fearing its consequences upon
the conduct of the Allied Powers. They may, very natu-
rally, dislike our sentiments upon the subject of the Greek
revolution ; but what those sentiments are they will much
more explicitly learn in the President's message than in this
resolution. They might, indeed, prefer that we should ex-
press no dissent from the doctrines which they have avowed,
and the application which they have made of those doctrines
to the case of Greece. But I trust we are not disposed

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 41

to leave them in any doubt as to our sentiments upon these
important subjects. They have expressed their opinions,
and do not call that expression of opinion an interference ;
in which respect they are right, as the expression of opin-
ion in such cases is not such an interference as would justify
the Greeks in considering the powers at war with them.
For the same reason, any expression which we may make
of different principles and different sympathies is no interfer-
ence. No one would call the President's message an inter-
ference ; and yet it is much stronger in that respect than
this resolution. If either of them could be construed to be
an interference, no doubt it would be improper, at least it
would be so according to my view of the subject; for the
very thing which I have attempted to resist in the course
of these observations is the right of foreign interference.
But neither the message nor the resolution has that charac-
ter. There is not a power in Europe which can suppose,
that, in expressing our opinions on this occasion, vre are
governed by any desire of aggrandizing ourselves or of in-
juring others. We do no more than to maintain those es-
tablished principles in which we have an interest in common
with other nations, and to resist tlie introduction of new
principles and new rules, calculated to destroy the relative
independence of states, and particularly hostile to the whole
fabric of our government.

I close, then, Sir, with repeating, that the object of this
resolution is to avail ourselves of the interesting occasion
of the Greek revolution to make our protest against the
doctrines of the Allied Powers, both as they are laid down
in principle and as they are applied in practice. I think it
right, too. Sir, not to be unseasonable in the expression of
our regard, and, as far as that goes, in a manifestation of
our sympathy with a long oppressed and now struggling
people. I am not of those who would, in the hour of ut-
most peril, withhold such encouragement as might be prop-
erly and lawfully given, and, when the crisis should be past,
overwhelm the rescued sufferer w^th kindness and caresses.
The Greeks address the civilized world with a pathos not
easy to be resisted. They invoke our favor by more

42 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

moving considerations than can well belong to the condition
of any other people. They stretch out their arms to the
Christian communities of the earth, beseeching- them, by a
generous recollection of their ancestors, by the consideration
of their desolated and ruined cities and villages, by their
Vv'ives and children sold into an accursed slavery, by their
blood, which they seem willing to pour out like water, by
the common faith, and in the name, which unites all Chris-
tians, that they would extend to them at least some token of
compassionate regard.

THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.

Address delivered at the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Bunker Hill Monument at
Charlestown, Massachusetts, on the 11th of June, 1825.

This uncounted multitude before me and around me
proves the feeling which the occasion has excited. These
thousands of human faces, glowing with sympathy and joy,
and from the impulses of a common gratitude turned rever-
ently to heaven in this spacious temple of the firmament,
proclaim that the day, the place, and the purpose of our as-
sembling have made a deep impression on our hearts.

If, indeed, there be any thing in local association fit to
aifect the mind of man, we need not strive to repress the
emotions which agitate us here. We are among the sepul-
chres of our fathers. We are on ground distinguished by
their valor, their constancy, and the shedding of their blood.
We are here, not to fix an uncertain date in our annals,
nor to draw into notice an obscure and unknown spot. If
our humble purpose had never been conceived, if we our-
selves had never been born, the 17th of June, 1775, would
have been a day on which all subsequent history would have
poured its hght, and the eminence where we stand a point
of attraction to the eyes of successive generations. But we
are Americans. We live in what may be called the early
age of this great continent ; and we know that our posterity,
through all time, are here to enjoy and suffer the allotments
of humanity. We see before us a probable train of great
events ; we know that our own fortunes have been happily

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 43

cast ; and it is natural, therefore, that we should be moved
by the contemplation of occurrences which have guided our
destiny before any of us were born, and settled the condition
in which we should pass that portion of our existence which
God allows to men on earth.

We do not read even of the discovery of this continent,
without feeling something of a personal interest in the event;
without beino^ reminded how much it has affected our ov»^n
fortunes and our own existence. It would be still more un-
natural for us, therefore, than for others, to contemplate with
unaffected minds that interesting, T may say that most touch-
ing and pathetic scene, when the great discoverer of America
stood on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night
falling on the sea, yet no man sleeping ; tossed on the bil-
lows of an unknown ocean, yet the stronger billows of alter-
nate hope and despair tossing his own troubled thoughts ;
extending forward his harassed frame, straining westward
his anxious and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him
a moment of rapture and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with
the sight of the unknown world.

Nearer to our times, more closely connected with our
fates, and therefore still more interesting to our feelings and
affections, is the settlement of our own country by colonists
from England. We cherish every memorial of these wor
thy ancestors; we celebrate their patience and fortitude; we
admire their daring enterprise; we teach our children to
venerate their piety ; and we are justly proud of being de-
scended from men who have set the world an example of
founding civil institutions on the great and united principles
of human freedom and human knowledge. To us, their
children, the story of their labors and sufferings can never
be without its interest. We shall not .stand unmoved on
the shore of Plymouth, while the sea continpes to wash it ;
nor will our brethren in another early and ancient Colony
forget the place of its first establishment, till their river shall
cease to flow by it. No vigor of youth, no maturity of
manhood, will lead the nation to forget the spots where its
infancy was cradled and defended.

But the great event ia the history of the continent, which

44 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

we are now met here to commemorate, that prodigy of
modern times, at once the wonder and the blessing of the
world, is the American Revolution. In a day of extraordi-
nary prosperity and happiness, of high national honor, dis-
tinction, and power, we are brought together, in this place,
by our love of country, by our admiration of exalted charac-
ter, by our gratiude for signal services and patriotic devotion.

The Society whose organ I am was formed for the purpose
of rearing some honorable and durable monument to the
memory of the early friends of American Independence.
They have thought, that for this object no time could be more
propitious than the present prosperous and peaceful period ;
that no place could claim preference over this memorable
spot ; and that no day could be more auspicious to the un-
dertaking, than the anniversary of the battle which was here
fought. The foundation of that monument we have now
laid. With solemnities suited to the occasion, with prayers
to Almighty God for his blessing, and in the midst of this
cloud of witnesses, we have begun the work. We trust it
will be prosecuted, and that, springing from a broad founda-
tion, rising high in massive solidity and unadorned grandeur,
it may remain as long as Heaven permits the works of man
to last, a fit emblem, both of the events in memory of which
it is raised, and of the gratitude of those who have reared it.

We know, indeed, that the record of illustrious actions is
most safely deposited in the universal remembrance of man-
kind. We know, that if we could cause this structure to
ascend, not only till it reached the skies, but till it pierced
them, its broad surfaces could still contain but part of that
which, in an age of knowledge, hath already been spread
over the earth, and which history charges itself with making
known to all future times. We know that no inscription
on entablature^ less broad than the earth itself can carry in-
formation of the events we commemorate where it has not
already gone ; and that no structure, which shall not out-
live the duration of letters and knowledge among men, can
prolong the memorial. But our object is, by this edifice,
to show our own deep sense of the value and importance
of the achievements of our ancestors ; and, by presenting

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 45

this work of gratitude to the eye, to keep aHve similar sen-
timents, and to foster a constant regard for the principles
of the Revolution. Human beings are composed, not of
reason only, but of imagination also, and sentiment ; and
that is neither wasted nor misappl'ed which is appropriated
to the purpose of giving right direction to sentiments, and
opening proper springs of feeling in the heart. Let it not
be supposed that our object is to perpetuate national hos-
tility, or even to cherish a mere military spirit. It is higher,
purer, nobler. We consecrate our work to the spirit of
national independence, and we vi^ish that the light of peace
may rest upon it for ever. We rear a memorial of our con-
viction of that unmeasured benefit which has been conferred
on our own land, and of the happy influences which have
been produced, by the same events, on the general interests
of mankind. We come, as Americans, to mark a spot
which must for ever be dear to us and our posterity. We
wish that whosoever, in all coming time, shall turn his eye
hither, may behold that the place is not undistinguished
where the first great battle of the Revolution was fought.
We wish that this structure may proclaim the magnitude
and importance of that event to every class and every age.
We wish that infancy may learn the purpose of its erection
from maternal lips, and that weary and withered age may
behold it, and be solaced by the recollections which it sug-
gests. We wish that labor may look up here, and be proud,
in the midst of its toil. We wish that, in those days of
disaster, which, as they come upon all nations, must be ex-
pected to come upon us also, desponding patriotism may
turn its eyes hitherward, and be assured that the foundations
of our national power are still strong. We wish that this
column, rising towards heaven among the pointed spires of
so many temples dedicated to God, may contribute also to
produce, in all minds, a pious feeling of dependence and
gratitude. We wish, finally, that the last object to tlie sight
of him who leaves his native shore, and the first to gladden
his who revisits it, may be something which shall remind
him of the hberty and the glory of his country. Let it rise !
let it rise, till it meet the sun in his coming; let the earliest

46 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play
on its summit.

We live in a most extraordinary age. Events so various
and so important that they might crowd and distinguish
centuries, are, in our times, compressed within the compass
of a single life. When has it happened that history has had
so much to record, in the same term of years, as since the
17th of June, 1775? Our own Revolution, which, under
other circumstances, might itself have been expected to
occasion a war of half a century, has been achieved ;
twenty-four sovereign and independent States erected ; and
a general government established over them, so safe, so
wise, so free, so practical, that we might well wonder its
establishment should have been accomplished so soon, were it
not far the greater wonder that it should have been established
at all. Two or three millions of people have been aug-
mented to twelve, the great forests of the West prostrated
beneath the arm of successful industry, and the dwellers on
the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi become the
fellow-citizens and neio-hbors of those who cultivate the hills
of New England.* We have a commerce that leaves no
sea unexplored ; navies, which take no law from superior
force ; revenues, adequate to all the exigencies of govern-
ment, almost without taxation ; and peace with all nations,
founded on equal rights and mutual respect.

Europe, within the same period, has been agitated by a
mighty revolution, which, while it has been felt in the indi-
vidual condition and happiness of almost every man, has
shaken to the centre her political fabric, and dashed against
one another thrones which had stood tranquil for ages. On
this, our continent, our own example has been followed, and
colonies have sprung up to be nations. Unaccustomed
sounds of liberty and free government have reached us from
beyond the track of the sun ; and at this moment the do-
minion of European power in this continent, from the place
where we stand to the south pole, is annihilated for ever.

* That which was spoken of figm-ativcly in 1825 has, in the lapse of a
quarter of a century, by the introduction of railroads and telegraphic lines,
become a reality. It is an interesting circumstance, that the first railroad
on the Western Continent was constructed for the purpose of accelerating
the erection of this monument.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 47

In the mean time, both in Europe and America, such has
been the general progress of knowledge, such the improve-
ment in legislation, in commerce, in the arts, in letters, and,
above all, in liberal ideas and the general spirit of the age,
that the whole world seems chans^ed.

Yet notwithstanding that this is but a faint abstract of the
things which have happened since the day of the battle of
Bunker Hill, we are but fifty years removed from it ; and
we now stand here to enjoy all the blessings of our own
condition, and to look abroad on the brightened prospects
of the world, while we still have among us some of those
who were active agents in the scenes of 1775, and who are
now here, from every quarter of New England, to visit once
more, and under circumstances so affecting, I had almost
said so overwhelming, this renowned theatre of their cour-
age and patriotism.

Venerable men ! you have come down to us from a
former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened
out your lives, that you might behold this joyous day. You
are now where you stood fifty years ago, this very hour,
with your brothers and your neighbors, slioulder to shoul-
der, in the strife for your country. Behold, how altered !
The same heavens are indeed over your heads ; the same
ocean rolls at your feet ; but all else how changed ! You
hear now no roar of hostile cannon, you see no mixed vol-
umes of smoke and flame rising from burning Charlestown.
The ground strewed with the dead and the dying ; the im-
petuous charge ; the steady and successful repulse ; the loud
call to repeated assault ; the summoning of all that is manly
to repeated resistance ; a thousand bosoms freely and fear-
lessly bared in an instant to whatever of terror there may
be in war and death ; — all these you have witnessed, but
you witness them no more. All is peace. The heights of
yonder metropohs, its towers and roofs, which you then saw
filled with wives and children and countrymen in distress
and terror, and looking with unutterable emotions for the
issue of the combat, have presented you to-day with the
sight of its whole happy population, come out to welcome
and greet you with a universal jubilee. Yonder proud ships.

48 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

by a felicity of position appropriately lying at the foot of
this mount, and seeming fondly to cling around it, are not
means of annoyance to you, but your country's own means
of distinction and defence. All is peace ; and God ha»
granted you this sight of your country's happiness, ere you
slumber in the grave. He has allowed you to behold and
to partake the reward of your patriotic toils ; and he has
allowed us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here,
and in the name of the present generation, in the name of
your country, in the name of liberty, to thank you !

But, alas ! you are not all here ! Time and the sword
have thinned your ranks. Prescott, Putnam, Stark, Brooks,
Read, Pomeroy, Bridge ! our eyes seek for you in vain
amid this broken band. You are gathered to your fathers,
and live only to your country in her grateful remembrance
and your own bright example. But let us not too much
grieve, that you have met the common fate of men. You
lived at least long enough to know that your work had been
nobly and successfully accomplished. You lived to see your
country's independence established, and to sheathe your
swords from war. On the light of Liberty you saw arise
the light of Peace, like

** another morn,
Risen on midnoon ; "

and the sky on which you closed your eyes was cloudless.

But ah ! Him ! the first great martyr in this great cause !
Him ! the premature victim of his own self-devoting heart !
Him ! the head of our civil councils, and the destined leader
of our military bands, whom nothing brought hither but the
unquenchable fire of his own spirit ! Him ! cut off by Provi-
dence in the hour of overwhelming anxiety and thick gloom;
falling ere he saw the star of his country rise ; pouring out
his generous blood like water, before he knew whether it
would fertilize a land of freedom or of bondage ! — how
shall I struggle with the emotions that stifle the utterance
of thy name ! Our poor work may perish ; but thine shall
endure ! This monument may moulder away ; the solid
i^round it rests upon may sink down to a level with the sea ;

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 49

but thy memory shall not fail ! Wheresoever among men
a heart shall be found that beats to the transports of patri-
otism and liberty, its aspirations shall be to claim kindred
with thy spirit !

But the scene amidst which we stand does not permit us
to confine our thoughts or our sympathies to those fearless
spirits who hazarded or lost their lives on this consecrated
spot. We have the happiness to rejoice here in the pres-
ence of a most worthy representation of the survivors of the
whole Revolutionary army.

Veterans ! you are the remnant of many a well-fought
field. You bring with you marks of honor from Trenton
and Monmouth, from Yorktown, Camden, Bennington, and
Saratoga. Veterans of half a century! when in your
youthful days you put every thing at hazard in your coun-
try's cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth
is, still your fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour
like this ! At a period to which you covild not reasonably
have expected to arrive, at a moment of national prosperity
such as you could never have foreseen, you are now met
here to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive
the overflowings of a universal gratitude.

But your agitated countenances and your heaving breasts
inform me that even this is not an unmixed joy. I perceive
that a tumult of contending feelings rushes upon you. The
images of the dead, as well as the persons of the living,
present themselves before you. The scene overwhelms you,
and I turn from it. May the Father of all mercies smile
upon your declining years, and bless them ! And when you
shall here have exchanged your embraces, when you shall
once more have pressed the hands which have been so often
extended to give succor in adversity, or grasped in the ex-
ultation of victory, then look abroad upon this lovely land
wliich your young valor defended, and mark the happiness
with which it is filled ; yea, look abroad upon the whole
earth, and see what a name you have contributed to give to
your country, and what a praise you have added to freedom,
and then rejoice in the sympathy and gratitude which beam
4

50 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

upon your last days from the improved condition of man
kind!

The occasion does not require of me any particular ac-
count of the battle of the 17th of June, 1775, nor any de-
tailed narrative of the events which immediately preceded it.
These are familiarly known to all. In the progress of the
great and interesting controversy, Massachusetts and the
town of Boston had become early and marked objects of
the displeasure of the British Parhament. This had been
manifested in the act for altering the government of the
Province, and in that for shutting up the port of Boston.
Nothing sheds more honor on our early history, and nothing
better shows how little the feelings and sentiments of the
Colonies were known or regarded in England, than the im-
pression which these measures every where produced in
America. It had been anticipated, that while the Colonies
in general would be terrified by the severity of the punish-
ment inflicted on Massachusetts, the otlier seaports would
be governed by a mere spirit of gain ; and that, as Boston
was now cut off from all commerce, the unexpected advan-
tage which this blow on her was calculated to confer on
other towns would be greedily enjoyed. How miserably
such reasoners deceived themselves ! How little they knew
of the depth, and the strength, and the intenseness of that
feeling of resistance to illegal acts of power, which pos-
sessed the whole American people ! Every where the un-
worthy boon was rejected with scorn. The fortunate occa-
sion was seized, every where, to show to the whole world
that the Colonies were svi^ayed by no local interest, no par-
tial interest, no selfish interest. The temptation to profit
by the punishment of Boston was strongest to our neighbors
of Salem. Yet Salem was precisely the place where this
miserable proifer was spurned, in a tone of the most lofty
self-respect and the most indignant patriotism. " We are
deeply affected," said its inhabitants, " with the sense of our
public calamities ; but the miseries that are now rapidly
hastening on our brethren in the capital of the Province
greatly excite our commiseration. By shutting up the port
of Boston, some imagine that the course of trade might be

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 0|

turned hither, and to our benefit ; but we must be dead to
every idea of justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could
we indul2:e the thouo;ht to seize on wealth and raise our
fortunes on the ruin of our suffering neighbors." Tliese
noble sentiments were not confined to our immediate vicin-
ity. In that day of general affection and brotherhood, the
blow given to Boston smote on every patriotic heart from
one end of the country to the other.

The 17th of June saw the four New England Colonies
standing here, side by side, to triumph or to fall together ;
and there was with them from that moment to the end of
the war, what I hope will remain with them for ever, one
cause, one country, one heart.

The battle of Bunker Hill was attended with the most
important effects beyond its immediate results as a military
engagement. It created at once a state of open, public
war. There could now be no longer a question of proceed-
ing against individuals, as guilty of treason or rebellion.
That fearful crisis was past. The appeal lay to the sword,
and the only question was, whether the spirit and the re-
sources of the people would hold out till the object should
be accomphshed. Nor were its general consequences con-
fined to our own country. The previous proceedings of
the Colonies, their appeals, resolutions, and addresses, had
made their cause known to Europe. Without boasting,
we may say, that in no age or country has the public cause
been maintained vi^ith more force of argument, more power
of illustration, or more of that persuasion which excited
feeling and elevated principle can alone bestow, than the
Revolutionary state papers exhibit. These papers will for
ever deserve to be studied, not only for the spirit which they
breathe, but for the ability with which they were written.

To this able vindication of their cause, the Colonies had
now added a practical and severe proof of their own true
devotion to it, and given evidence also of the power which
they could bring to its support. All now saw, that if
America fell, she would not fall without a struggle. Men
felt sympathy and regard, as well as surprise, when they
beheld these infant states, remote, unknown, unaided, en-

52 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

counter the power of England, and in the firsi considerable
battle, leave more of their enemies dead on the field, in
proportion to the number of combatants, than had been re-
cently known to fall in the wars of Europe.

Information of these events, circulating throughout the
world, at length reached the ears of one who now hears me.*
He has not forgotten the emotion which the fame of Bunker
Hill, and the name of Warren excited in his youthful breast.

Sir, we are assembled to commemorate the establishment
of great public principles of liberty, and to do honor to the
distinguished dead. The oceasion is too severe for eulogy
of the living. But, Sir, your interesting relation to this
country, the pecuUar circumstances which surround you and
surround us, call on me to express the happiness which we
derive from your presence and aid in this solemn com-
memoration.

Fortunate, fortunate man ! with what measure of devo-
tion will you not thank God for the circumstances of your
extraordinary life ! You are connected with both hemi-
speres and with two generations. Heaven saw fit to ordain,
that the electric spark of liberty should be conducted,
through you, from the New World to the Old ; and we,
who are now here to perform this duty of patriotism, have
all of us long ago received it in charge from our fathers to
cherish your name and your virtues. You will account it
an instance of your good fortune. Sir, that you crossed the
seas to visit us at a time which enables you to be present at
this solemnity. You now behold the field, the renown of
which reached you in the heart of France, and caused a
thrill in your ardent bosom. You see the lines of the little
redoubt thrown up by the incredible diligence of Prescott ;
defended, to the last extremity, by his lion-hearted valor ;
and within which the corner stone of our monument has
taken its position. You see where Warren fell, and where
Parker, Gardner, McCleary, Moore, and other early patriots
fell with him. Those who survived that day, and whosq

* Among the earliest of the arrangements for the celebration of the 17th
of June, 1825, was the invitation to General Lafayette to be present ; and he
had so timed his progress through the other States as to return to Massa-
chusetts in season for the great occasion.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 53

lives have been prolonged to the present hour, are now
around you. Some of them you have known in the trying
scenes of the war. Behold ! they now stretch forth their
feeble arms to embrace you. Behold ! they raise their
trembling voices to invoke the blessing of God on you and
yours for ever.

Sir, you have assisted us in laying the foundation of this
structure. You have heard us rehearse, with our feeble
commendation, the names of departed patriots. Monuments
and eulogy belong to the dead. We give them this day to
Warren and his associates. On other occasions they have
been given to your more immediate companions in arms, to
Washington, to Greene, to Gates, to Sullivan, and to Lin-
coln. We have become reluctant to grant these, our high-
est and last honors, further. We would gladly hold them
yet back from the little remnant of that immortal band.
Serus in ccelum redeas. Illustrious as are your merits, yet
far, O, very far distant be the day, when any inscription
shall bear your name, or any tongue pronounce i+s eulogy !

The leading reflection to which this occasion seems to
invite us, respects the great changes which have liappened
in the fifty years since the battle of Bunker Hill was fought.
And it peculiarly marks the character of the present age,
that, in looking at these changes, and estimating their effect
on our condition, we are obhged to consider, not what has
been done in our own country only, but in others also. In
these interesting times, while nations are making separate
and individual advances in improvement, they make, too, a
common progress ; like vessels on a common tide, propelled
by the gales at different rates, according to their several
structure and management, but all moved forward by one
mighty current, strong enough to bear onward whatever
does not sink beneath it.

A chief distinction of the present day is a community of
opinions and knowledge amongst men in different nations,
existing in a degree heretofore unknown. Knowledge has,
in our time, triumphed, and is triumphing, over distance,
over difference of languages, over diversity of habits, over
prejudice, and over bigotry. The civiUzed and Christian

S4 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

world is fast learning the great lesson, that difference of
nation does not imply necessary hostility, and that all con-
tact need not be war. The whole world is becoming a
common field for intellect to act in. Energy of mind, gen-
ius, power, wheresoever it exists, may speak out in any
tongue, and the world will hear it. A great chord of senti-
ment and feeling runs through two continents, and vibrates
over both. Every breeze wafts intelligence from country
to country ; every wave rolls it ; all give it forth, and all in
turn receive it. There is a vast commerce of ideas ; there
are marts and exchanges for intellectual discoveries, and a
wonderful fellowship of those individual intelligences which
make up the mind and opinion of the age. Mind is the
great lever of all things; human thought is the process by
which human ends are ultimately answered ; and the diffu-
sion of knowledge, so astonishing in the last half century,
has rendered innumerable minds, variously gifted by nature,
competent to be competitors or fellow- workers on the thea-
tre of intellectual operation.

From these causes important improvements have taken
place in the personal condition of individuals. Generally
speaking, mankind are not only better fed and better clothed,
but they are able also to enjoy more leisure ; they possess
more refinement and more self-respect. A superior tone
of education, manners, and habits prevails. This remark,
most true in its application to our own country, is also
partly true when applied elsewhere. It is proved by the
vastly augmented consumption of those articles of manufac-
ture and of commerce which contribute to the comforts and
decencies of life ; an augmentation which has far outrun the
progress of population. And while the unexampled and al-
most incredible use of machinery would seem to supply the
place of labor, labor still finds its occupation and its reward ;
so wisely has Providence adjusted men's wants and desires
to their condition and their capacity.

Any adequate survey, however, of the progress made
during the last half century in the polite and the mechanic
arts, in machinery and manufactures, in commerce and ag-
riculture, in letters and in science, would require volumes.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 55

I must abstain wholly from these subjects, and turn for a
moment to the contemplation of what has been done on the
great question of politics and government. This is the
master topic of the age ; and during the whole fifty years
it has intensely occupied the thoughts of men. The nature
of civil government, its ends and uses, have been canvassed
and investigated ; ancient opinions attacked and defended ;
new ideas recommended and resisted, by whatever power
the mind of man could bring to the controversy. From the
closet and the public halls the debate has been transferred
to the field ; and the world has been shaken by wars of
unexampled magnitude, and the greatest variety of fortune.
A day of peace has at length succeeded ; and now that the
strife has subsided, and the smoke cleared away, we may
begin to see what has actually been done, permanently
changing the state and condition of human society. And,
without dwelling on particular circumstances, it is most
apparent, that, from the before-mentioned causes of aug-
mented knowledge and improved individual condition, a
real, substantial, and important change has taken place, and
is taking place, highly favorable, on the whole, to human
liberty and human happiness.

The great wheel of political revolution began to move in
America. Here its rotation was guarded, regular, and safe.
Transferred to the other continent, from unfortunate but
natural causes, it received an irregular and violent impulse ;
it whirled along with a fearful celerity ; till at length, like
the chariot wheels in the races of antiquity, it took fire from
the rapidity of its own motion, and blazed onward, spread-
ing conflagration and terror around.

We learn from the result of this experiment, how for-
tunate was our own condition, and how admirably the char-
acter of our people was calculated for setting the great ex-
ample of popular governments. The possession of power
did not turn the heads of the American people, for they had
long been in the habit of exercising a great degree of self-
control. Although the paramount authority of the parent
state existed over them, yet a large field of legislation had
always been open to our Colonial assembhes. They were

56 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

accustomed to representative bodies and forms of free gov-
ernment ; they understood the doctrine of the division of
power among different branches, and the necessity of checks
on each. The character of our countrymen, moreover, was
sober, moral, and religious ; and there was little in the
change to shock their feelings of justice and humanity, or
even to disturb an honest prejudice. We had no domestic
throne to overturn, no privileged orders to cast down, no
violent changes of property to encounter. In the American
Revolution, no man sought or wished for more than to de-
fend and enjoy his own. None hoped for plunder or for
spoil. Rapacity was unknown to it ; the axe was not
among the instruments of its accomplishment ; and we all
know that it could not have lived a single day under any
well-founded imputation of possessing a tendency adverse
to the Christian religion.

And, now, let us indulge an honest exultation in the con-
viction of the benefit which the example of our country has
produced, and is likely to produce, on human freedom and
human happiness. Let us endeavor to comprehend in all
its magnitude, and to feel in all its importance, the part as-
signed to us in the great drama of human affairs. We are
placed at the head of the system of representative and popular
governments. Thus far our example shows that such gov-
ernments are compatible, not only with respectability and
power, but with repose, with peace, with security of person-
al rights, with good laws, and a just administration.

We are not propagandists. Wherever other systems are
preferred, either as being thought better in themselves, or as
better suited to existing condition, we leave the preference
to be enjoyed. Our history hitherto proves, however, that
the popular form is practicable, and that with wisdom and
knowledge men may govern themselves ; and the duty in-
cumbent on us is, to preserve the consistency of this cheer-
ing example, and take care that nothing may weaken its
authority with the world. If, in our case, the representa-
tive system ultimately fail, popular governments must be
pronounced impossible. No combination of circumstances
more favorable to the experiment can ever be expected to

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 57

occur. The last hopes of mankind, therefore, rest with us ;
and if it should be proclaimed, that our example had be-
come an argument against the experiment, the knell of
popular liberty would be sounded throughout the earth.

These are excitements to duty ; but they are not sugges-
tions of doubt. Our history and our condition, all that is
gone before us, and all that surrounds us, authorize the be-
lief, that popular governments, though subject to occasional
variation, in form perhaps not always for the better, may
yet, in their general character, be as durable and permanent
as other systems. We know, indeed, that in our country
any other is impossible. The principle of free governments
adheres to the American soil. It is bedded in it, immova-
ble as its mountains.

And let the sacred obligations which have devolved on this
generation, and on us, sink deep into our hearts. Those
who established our liberty and our government are daily
dropping from among us. The great trust now descends to
new hands. Let us apply ourselves to that which is present-
ed to us, as our appropriate object. We can win no laurels
in a war for independence. Earlier and worthier hands
have gathered them all. Nor are there places for us by the
side of Solon, and Alfred, and other founders of states.
Our fathers have filled them. But there remains to us a
great duty of defence and preservation ; and there is opened
to us, also, a noble pursuit, to which the spirit of the times
strongly invites us. Our proper business is improvement.
Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day of peace,
let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace.
Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its pow-
ers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests,
and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may
not perform something worthy to be remembered. Let us
cultivate a true spirit of union and harmony. In pursuing
the great objects which our condition points out to us, let
us act under a settled conviction, and an habitual feeling,
that these twenty-four States are one country. Let our con-
ceptions be enlarged to the circle of our duties. Let us ex-
tend our ideas over the whole of the vast field in which we

68 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

are called to act. Let our object be, our country, our

WHOLE country, AND NOTHING BUT OUR COUNTRY. And,

by the blessing of God, may that country itself become a
vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror,
but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of Liberty, upon which the
world may gaze with admiration for ever !

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.

Reflections upon the Battle of Bunker Hill, contributed to the JVorth American

Review, vol. vii.

No national drama was ever developed in a more inter-
esting and splendid first scene. The incidents and the
result of the battle, itself were most important, and indeed
most wonderful. As a mere battle, few surpass it in what-
ever engages and interests the attention. It was fought on
a conspicuous eminence, in the immediate neighborhood of
a populous city, and consequently in the view of thousands
of spectators. The attacking army moved over a sheet of
water to the assault. The operations and movements were
of course all visible and all distinct. Those who looked on
from the houses and heights of Boston had a fuller view of
every important operation and event than can ordinarily be
had of any battle, or than can possibly be had of such as
are fought on a more extended ground, or by detachments
of troops acting in different places, and at different times,
and in some measure independently of each other. When
the British columns were advancing to the attack, the flames
of Charlestown (fired, as is generally supposed, by a shell)
began to ascend. The spectators, far outnumbering both
armies, thronged and crowded on every height and every
point which afforded a view of the scene, themselves con-
stituted a very important part of it.

The troops of the two armies seemed like so many com-
batants in an amphitheatre. The manner in which they
should acquit themselves was to be judged of, not, as in
other cases of military engagements, by reports and future
liistory, but by a vast and anxious assembly already on the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 59

spot, and waiting with unspeakable concern and emotion the
progress of the day.

In other battles the recollection of wives and children has
been used as an excitement to animate the warrior's breast
and nerve his arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but
an actual presence of them, and other dear connections, hang-
ing on the skirts of the battle, anxious and agitated, feeling
almost as if wounded themselves by every blow of the
enemy, and putting forth, as it were, their own strength,
and all the energy of their own throbbing bosoms, into every
gallant effort of their warring friends.

But there was a more comprehensive and vastly more im-
portant view of that day's contest than has been mentioned
— a view, indeed, which ordinary eyes, bent intently on
what was immediately before them, did not embrace, but
which was perceived in its full extent and expansion by
minds of a higher order. Those men who were at the head
of the colonial councils, who had been engaged for years in
the previous stages of the quarrel with England, and who
had been accustomed to look forward to the future, were
well apprised of the magnitude of the events likely to hang
on the business of that day. They saw in it not only a
battle, but the beginning of a civil war of unmeasured ex-
tent and uncertain issue. All America and all England
were likely to be deeply concerned in the consequences.
The individuals themselves, who knew full well what agency
they had in bringing affairs to this crisis, had need of all
their courage — not that disregard of personal safety in
which the vulgar suppose true courage to consist, but that
high and fixed moral sentiment, that steady and decided
purpose, which enables men to pursue a distant end, with a
full view of the difficulties and dangers before them, and
with a conviction that, before they must arrive at the pro-
posed end, should they ever reach it, they must pass through
evil report as vi^ell as good report, and be liable to obloquy
as well as to defeat.

Spirits that fear nothing else, fear disgrace ; and this
danger is necessarily encountered by those who engage \n
civil war. Unsuccessful resistance is not only ruin to its

60 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

authors, but is esteemed, and necessarily so, by the laws of
all countries, treasonable. This is the case, at least, till re-
sistance becomes so general and formidable as to assume the
form of regular war. But who can tell, when resistance
commences, whether it will attain even to that degree
of success 1 Some of those persons who signed the Dec-
laration of Independence, in 1776, described themselves as
signing it " as with halters about their necks." If there
were grounds for this remark in 1776, when the cause had
become so much more general, how much greater was the
hazard when the battle of Bunker Hill was fought !

These considerations constituted, to enlarged and liberal
minds, the moral sublimity of the occasion, while to the out-
ward senses, the movement of armies, the roar of artillery,
the brilliancy of the reflection of a summer's sun from the
burnished armor of the British columns, and the flames of a
burning town, made up a scene of extraordinary grandeur.

ADAMS AND JEFFERSON.

Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Mams and Thomas
Jefferson, delivered in Faneuil Hall, on the 2d of August, 1826, at the Request of the
J^unicipal Authorities of Boston.

This is an unaccustomed spectacle. For the first time,
fellow-citizens, badges of mourning shroud the columns and
overhang the arches of this hall. These walls, which were
consecrated, so long ago, to the cause of American liberty,
which witnessed her infant struggles, and rung with the
shouts of her earliest victories, proclaim, now, that distin-
guished friends and champions of that great cause have
fallen. It is right that it should be thus. The tears which
flow, and the honors that are paid, when the founders of the
republic die, give hope that the republic itself may be im-
mortal. It is fit that, by pubhc assembly and solemn obser-
vance, by anthem and by eulogy, we commemorate the
services of national benefactors, extol their virtues, and
render thanks to God for eminent blessings, early given

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 61

and ]oug continued, through their agency, to our favored
country.

ADAMS and JEFFERSON are no more ; and we are
assembled, fellow-citizens, the aged, the middle-aged, and
the young, by the spontaneous impulse of all, under the
authority of the municipal government, with the presence
of the chief magistrate of the Commonwealth, and others
its official representatives, the University, and the learned
societies, to bear our part in those manifestations of respect
and gratitude which pervade the whole land. Adams and
Jefferson are no more. On our fiftieth anniversary, the
great day of national jubilee, in the very hour of public
rejoicing, in the midst of echoing and reechoing voices of
thanksgiving, while their own names were on all tongues,
they took their flight together to the world of spirits.

If it be true that no one can safely be pronounced happy
while he lives, if that event wliich terminates life can alone
crown its honors and its glory, what felicity is here ! The
great epic of their lives, how happily concluded ! Poetry
itself has hardly terminated illustrious lives, and finished the
career of earthly renown, by such a consummation. If we
had the power, we could not wish to reverse this dispensation
of the Divine Providence. The great objects of life were
accomplished, the drama was ready to be closed. It has
closed ; our patriots have fallen ; but so fallen, at such age,
with such coincidence, on such a day, that we cannot ration-
ally lament that that end has come, which we knew could
not be long deferred.

Neither of these great men, fellow-citizens, could have
died, at any time, without leaving an immense void in our
American society. They have been so intimately, and for
so long a time, blended with the history of the country, and
especially so united, in our thoughts and recollections, with
the events of the Revolution, that the death of either would
have touched the chords of public sympathy. We should have
felt that one great link, connecting us with former times, was
broken ; that we had lost something more, as it were, of
the presence of the Revolution itself, and of the act of in-
dependence, and were driven on, by another great remove

62 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

from the days of our country's early distinction, to meet
posterity, and to mix with the future. Like the mariner,
whom the currents of the ocean and the winds carry along,
till he sees the stars which have directed his course and
hghted his pathless way descend, one hy one, beneath the
rising horizon, we should have felt that the stream of time
had borne us onward till another great luminary, whose light
had cheered us and whose guidance we had followed, had
sunk away from our sight.

But the concurrence of their death on the anniversary
of Independence has naturally awakened stronger emotions.
Both had been Presidents, both had lived to great age, both
were early patriots, and both were distinguished and ever
honored by their immediate agency in the act of independ-
ence. It cannot but seem striking and extraordinary, that
these two should live to see the fiftieth year from the date of
that act ; that they should complete that year ; and that then,
on the day which had fast linked for ever their own fame with
their country's glory, the heavens should open to receive
them both at once. As their lives themselves were the gifts
of Providence, who is not willing to recognize in their hap-
py termination, as well as in their long continuance, proofs
that our country and its benefactors are objects of His
care ?

Adams and Jefferson, I have said, are no more. As
human beings, indeed, they are no more. They are no
more, as in 1776, bold and fearless advocates of independ-
ence ; no more, as at subsequent periods, the head of the
government ; no more, as we have recently seen them, aged
and venerable objects of admiration and regard. They are
no more. They are dead. But how little is tliere of the
great and good which can die ! To their country they yet
live, and live for ever. They live in all that perpetuates the
remembrance of men on earth ; in the recorded proofs of
their own great actions, in the offspring of their intellect, in
the deep-engraved lines of public gratitude, and in the respect
and homage of mankind. They live in their example ; and
they live, emphatically, and will live, in the influence which
their lives and efforts, their principles and opinions, now ex-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 63

ercise, and will continue to exercise, on the affairs of men,
not only in their own country, but throughout the civilized
world. A superior and commanding human intellect, a
truly great man, when Heaven vouchsafes so rare a gift, is
not a temporary flame, burning brightly for a while, and
then giving place to returning darkness. It is rather a spark
of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to en-
kindle the common mass of human mind ; so that when it
glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no
night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire,
from the potent contact of its own spirit. Bacon died ; but
the human understanding, roused by the touch of his miracu-
lous wand to a perception of the true philosophy and the
just mode of inquiring after truth, has kept on its course
successfully and gloriously. Newton died ; yet the courses
of the spheres are still known, and they yet move on by
the laws which he discovered, and in the orbits which he
saw, and described for them, in the infinity of space.

No two men now live, fellow-citizens, perhaps it may be
doubted whether any two men have ever lived in one age,
who, more than those we now commemorate, have im-
pressed on mankind their own sentiments in regard to poli-
tics and government, infused their own opinions more deeply
into the opinions of others, or given a more lasting direction
to the current of human thought. Their work doth not
perish with them. The tree which they assisted to plant
will flourish, although they water it and protect it no longer ;
for it has struck its roots deep, it has sent them to the very
centre ; no storm, not of force to burst the orb, can overturn
it; its branches spread wide; they stretch their protecting
arms broader and broader, and its top is destined to reach
the heavens. We are not deceived. There is no delusion
here. No age will come in which the American Revolution
will appear less than it is, one of the greatest events in hu-
man history. No age will come in which it shall cease to
be seen and felt, on either continent, tliat a miglity step, a
great advance, not only in American affairs, but in human
affairs, was made on the 4th of July, 1776. And no age
will come, we trust, so ignorant or so unjust as not to

64 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

see and acknowledge the efficient agency of those we now
honor in producing that momentous event.

We are not assembled, therefore, fellow-citizens, as men
overwhelmed with calamity by the sudden disruption of the
ties of friendship or aifection, or as in despair for the re-
public by the untimely blighting of its hopes. Death has not
surprised us by an unseasonable blow. We have, indeed,
seen the tomb close, but it has closed only over mature years,
over long-protracted public service, over the weakness of
age, and over life itself only when the ends of living had
been fulfilled. These suns, as they rose slowly and steadily,
amidst clouds and storms, in their ascendant, so they have
not rushed from their meridian to sink suddenly in the
west. Like the mildness, the serenity, the continuing
benignity of a summer's day, tliey have gone down with
slow-descending, grateful, long-lingering light ; and now
that they are beyond the visible margin of the world, good
omens cheer us from " the bright track of their fiery
car " !

There were many points of similarity in the lives and for-
tunes of these great men. They belonged to the same pro-
fession, and had pursued its studies and its practice, for
unequal lengths of time indeed, but with diligence and
effect. Both were learned and able lawyers. They were
natives and inhabitants, respectively, of those two of the
Colonies which at the Revolution were the largest and most
powerful, and which naturally had a lead in the political
affairs of the times. When the Colonies became in some
degree united, by the assembling of a general Congress,
they were brought to act together in its deliberations, not
indeed at the same time, but both at early periods. Each
had already manifested his attachment to the cause of the
country, as well as his ability to maintain it, by printed ad-
dresses, public speeches, extensive correspondence, and
whatever other mode could be adopted for the purpose of
exposing the encroachments of the British Parliament, and
animating the people to a manly resistance. Both were
not only decided, but early, friends of Independence.
While others yet doubted, they w^ere resolved ; where others

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 65

hesitated, they pressed forward. They were both mem-
bers of the committee for preparing the Declaration of In-
dependence, and they constituted the sub-committee appoint-
ed by the other members to make the draft. They left
their seats in Congress, being called to other public employ-
ments, at periods not remote from each other, although one
of them returned to it afterwards for a short time. Neither
of them was of the assembly of great men which formed
the present Constitution, and neither was at any time a
member of Congress under its provisions. Both have been
public ministers abroad, both Vice-Presidents and both
Presidents of the United States. These coincidences are
now singularly crowned and completed. They have died
together; and they died on the anniversary of liberty.

When many of us were last in this place, fellow-citizens,
it was on the day of that anniversary. We were met to
enjoy the festivities belonging to the occasion, and to mani-
fest our grateful homage to our political fathers. We did
not, we could not here, forget our venerable neighbor of
Quincy. We knevi^ that we were standing, a,t a time of
high and palmy prosperity, where he had stood in the hour
of utmost peril ; that we saw nothing but liberty and secu-
rity, where he had met the frown of power ; that we were
enjoying every thing, where he had hazarded every thing ;
and just and sincere plaudits rose to his name, from the
crowds which filled this area, and hung over these galleries.
He whose grateful duty it was to speak to us,* on that day,
of the virtues of our fathers, had, indeed, admonished us
that time and years were about to level his venerable frame
with the dust. But he bade us hope that ^' the sound of a
nation's joy, rushing from our cities, ringing from our val-
leys, echoing from our hills, might yet break the silence of
his aged ear ; that the rising blessings of grateful millions
might yet visit with glad light his decaying vision." Alas !
that vision was then closing for ever. Alas ! the silence
which was then settling on that aged ear was an everlasting
silence ! For, lo ! in the very moment of our festivities, his

* Hon. Josiah Quincy.

66 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

freed spirit ascended to God who gave it ! Human aid and
human solace terminate at the grave ; or we would gladly
have borne him upward, on a nation's outspread hands ; we
would have accompanied him, and with the blessings of
millions and the prayers of millions, commended him to the
Divine favor.

While still indulging our thoughts, on the coincidence of
the death of this venerable man with the anniversary of In-
dependence, we learn that .Teiferson, too, has fallen ; and
that these aged patriots, these illustrious fellow-laborers,
have left our world together. May not such events raise
the suggestion that they are not undesigned, and that Heaven
does so order things, as sometimes to attract strongly the
attention and excite the thoughts of men ? The occurrence
has added new interest to our anniversary, and will be re-
membered in all time to come.

John Adams was born at Quincy, then part of the
ancient town of Braintree, on the 19th day of October, (old
style,) 1735. He was a descendant of the Puritans, his an-
cestors having early emigrated from England, and settled in
Massachusetts. Discovering in childhood a strong love of
reading and of knowledge, together with marks of great
strength and activity of mind, proper care was taken by his
worthy father to provide for his education. He pui'sued his
youthful studies in Braintree, under Mr. Marsh, a teacher
whose fortune it was that Josiah Quincy, Jr., as well as the
subject of these remarks, should receive from him his in-
struction in the rudiments of classical literature. Having
been admittted, in 1751, a member of Harvard College, Mr.
Adams was graduated, in course, in 1755.

Choosing the law for his profession, he commenced and
prosecuted its studies at Worcester, under the direction of
Samuel Putnam, a gentleman whom he has himself described
as an acute man, an able and learned lawyer, and as being
in large professional practice at that time. In 1758 he was
admitted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of the
law in Braintree. He is understood to have made his first
considerable effort, or to have attained his first signal suc-
cess, at Plymouth, on one of those occasions which fiirnish

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. (St

the earliest opportunity for distinction to many young men
of the profession, a jury trial, and a criminal cause.

In 1766 he removed his residence to Boston, still con-
tinuing his attendance on the neighboring circuits, and not
unfrequently called to remote parts of the Province. In
1770 his professional firmness was brought to a test of some
severity, on the application of the British officers and soldiers
to undertake their defence, on the trial of the indictments
found against them on account of the tr-ansactions of the
memorable 5th of March. He seems to have thought, on
this occasion, that a man can no more abandon the proper
duties of his profession, than he can abandon other duties.
The event proved, that, as he judged well for his own repu-
tation, so, too, he judged well for the interest and perma-
nent fame of his country. The result of that trial proved,
that, notwithstanding the high degree of excitement then
existing in consequence of the measures of the British gov-
ernment, a jury of Massachusetts would not deprive the
most reckless enemies, even the officers of that standing
army quartered among them, which they so perfectly ab-
horred, of any part of that protection which the law, in its
mildest and most indulgent interpretation, affords to persons
accused of crimes.

Without following Mr. Adams's professional course fur-
ther, suffice it to say, that on the first establishment of the
judicial tribunals under the authority of the State, in 1776,
he received an offer of the high and responsible station of
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. But
he was destined for another and a different career. From
early life the bent of his mind was toward politics ; a pro-
pensity which the state of the times, if it did not create,
doubtless very much strengthened. Public subjects must
have occupied the thoughts and filled up the conversation
in the circles in which he then moved; and the interesting
questions at that time just arising could not but seize on a
mind like his, ardent, sanguine, and patriotic. A letter,
fortunately preserved, written by him at Worcester, so early
as the 12th of October, 1755, is a proof of very comprehen-
sive views, and uncommon depth of reflection, in a young

6S CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

man not yet quite twenty. In this letter he predicted the
transfer of power, and the establishment of a new ^eat of
empire in America; he predicted, also, the increase of pop-
ulation in the Colonies ; and anticipated their naval distinc-
tion, and foretold that all Europe combined could not sub-
due them. All this is said, not on a public occasion or for
effect, but in the style of sober and friendly correspondence,
as the result of his own thoughts. " I sometimes retire,"
said he, at the close of the letter, " and, laying things to-
gether, form some reflections pleasing to myself. The
produce of one of these reveries you have read above." *
This prognostication so early in his own life, so early in
the history of the country, of independence, of vast increase
of numbers, of naval force, of such augmented power as
might defy all Europe, is remarkable. It is more remark-
able that its author should live to see fulfilled to the letter
what could have seemed to others, at the time, but the ex-
travagance of youthful fancy. His earliest political feelings
were thus strongly American, and from this ardent attach-
ment to his native soil he never departed.

While still living at Quincy, and at the age of twenty-
four, Mr. Adams was present, in this town, at the argument
before the Supreme Court respecting Writs of Assistance,
and heard tlie celebrated and patriotic speech of .Tames
Otis. Unquestionably that was a masterly performance.
No flighty declamation about liberty, no superficial discussion
of popular topics, it was a learned, penetrating, convincing,
constitutional argument, expressed in a straiii of high and
resolute patriotism. He grasped the question then pending
between England and her Colonies with the strength of a
lion ; and if he sometimes sported, it was only because the

* Extract of a letter written by John Adams to Nathan Webb, dated at
Worcester, Massachusetts, October 12, 1755.

" Soon after the Reformation, a fev/ people came oVer into this New
World, for conscience' sake. Perhaps this apparent trivial incident may
transfer the great seat of einpire into America. It looks likely to me ; for,
if we can remove the turbulent Gallics, our people, according to the exactest
computations, will, in another century, become more numerous tiian Engiana
itself. Should this be the case, since we have, I may say, all the naval
stores of the nation in our hands, it will be easy to obtain a mastery of the
seas ; and then the united force of all Europe will not be able to subdue us.
The only way to keep us from setting up for ourselves is to disunite us. "

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 69

lion himself is sometimes playful. Its success appears to
have been as great as its merits, and its impression was
widely felt. Mr. Adams himself seems never to have lost
the feeling it produced, and to have entertained constantly
the fullest conviction of its important effects. " I do say,"
he observes, " in the most solemn manner, that Mr. Otis's
Oration against Writs of Assistance breathed into this na-
tion the breath of life."

The citizens of this town conferred on Mr. Adams his
first political distinction, and clothed him with his first po-
litical trust, by electing him one of their representatives, in
1770. Before this time he had become extensively known
throughout the Province, as well by the part he had acted
in relation. to public affairs, as by the exercise of his pro-
fessional ability. He was among those who took the deep-
est interest in the controversy with England, and whether
in or out of the legislature, his time and talents were alike
devoted to the cause. In the years 1773 and 1774 he was
chosen a Councillor by the members of the General Court,
but rejected by Governor Hutchinson in the former of those
years, and by Governor Gage in the latter.

The time was now at hand, however, when the affairs of
the Colonies urgently demanded united counsels throughout
the country. An open rupture with the parent state ap-
peared inevitable, and it was but the dictate of prudence that
those who were united by a common interest and a common
danger should protect that interest and guard against that
danger by united efforts. A general Congress of Delegates
from all the Colonies having been proposed and agreed to,
the House of Representatives, on the 17th of June, 1774,
elected James Bowdoin, Thomas Cushing, Samuel Adams,
John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, delegates from Mas-
sachusetts. This appointment was made at Salem, where
the General Court had been convened by Governor Gage,
in the last hour of the existence of a House of Representa-
tives under the Provincial Charter. While engaged in this
important business, the Governor, having been informed of
what was passing, sent his secretary with a message dis-
solving the General Court. The secretary, finding the door

70 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

locked, directed the messenger to go in and inform the
Speaker that the secretary was at the door with a message
from the Governor. The messenger returned, and informed
the secretary that the orders of the House were that the
doors should be kept fast ; whereupon the secretary soon
after read upon the stairs a proclamation dissolving the
General Court. Thus terminated, for ever, the actual exer-
cise of the political power of England in or over Massachu-
setts. The four last-named delegates accepted their ap-
pointments, and took their seats in Congress the first day
Cjf its meeting, the 5th of September, 1774, in Philadelphia.

The proceedings of the first Congress are well known,
and have been universally admired. It is in vain that we
would look for superior proofs of wisdom, talent, and pa-
triotism. Lord Chatham said, that, for himself, he must
declare that he had studied and admired the free states of
antiquity, the master states of the world, but that for so-
lidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of con-
clusion, no body of men could stand in preference to this
Congress. It is hardly inferior praise to say, that no pro-
duction of that great man himself can be pronounced supe-
rior to several of the papers published as the proceedings of
this most able, most firm, most patriotic assembly. There
is, indeed, nothing superior to them in the range of political
disquisition. They not only embrace, illustrate, and enforce
every thing which political philosophy, the love of liberty,
and the spirit of free inquiry had antecedently produced,
but they add new and striking views of their own, and ap-
ply the whole, with irresistible force, in support of the
cause which had drawn them together.

As it was in the Continental Congress, fellow-citizens,
that those whose deaths have given rise to this occasion
were first brought together, and called upon to unite their
industry and their ability in the service of the country, let
us now turn to the other of these distinguished men, and
take a brief notice of his life up to the period when he ap-
peared within the walls of Congress.

Thomas Jefferson, descended from ancestors who had
been settled in Virginia for some generations, was born near

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 74

the spot on which he died, in the county of Albemarle, on
the 2d of April, (old style,) 1743. His youthful studies were
pursued in the neighborhood of his father's residence until
he was removed to the College of William and Mary, the
highest honors of which he in due time received. Having
left the college with reputation, he applied himself to the
study of the law under the tuition of George Wythe, one of
the highest judicial names of which that State can boast.
At an early age he was elected a member of the legislature,
in which he had no sooner appeared than he distinguished
himself by knowledge, capacity, and promptitude.

Mr. Jefferson appears to have been imbued with an early
love of letters and science, and to have cherished a strong
disposition to pursue these objects. To the physical sci-
ences, especially, and to ancient classic literature, he is
understood to have had a warm attachment, and never en-
tirely to have lost sight of them in the midst of the busiest
occupations. But the times were times for action, rather
than for contemplation. The country was to be defended,
and to be saved, before it could be enjoyed. Philosophic lei-
sure and literary pursuits, and even the objects of professional
attention, were all necessarily postponed to the urgent calls
of the public service. The exigency of the country made
the same demand on Mr. Jefferson that it made on others
who had the ability and the disposition to serve it, and
he obeyed the call.

Entering with all his heart into the cause of liberty, his
ability, patriotism, and power with the pen naturally drew
upon him a large participation in the most important con-
cerns. Wherever he was, there was found a soul devoted
to the cause, power to defend and maintain it, and willing-
ness to incur all its hazards. In 1774 he published a Sum-
mary View of the Rights of British America, a valuable
production among those intended to show the dangers
which threatened the liberties of the country, and to en-
courage the people in their defence. In June, 1775, he
was elected a member of the Continental Congress, as suc-
cessor to Peyton Randolph, who had resigned his place on
account of ill health, and took his seat in that body on the
21st of the same month.

72 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

And now, fellow-citizens, without pursuing the biography
of these illustrious men further, for the present, let us turn
our attention to the most prominent act of their lives, their
participation in the Declaration of Independence.

Preparatory to the introduction of that important meas-
ure, a committee, at the head of which was Mr. Adams,
had reported a resolution which Congress adopted on
the ICth of May, recommending, in substance, to all the
Colonies which had not already established governrnents
suited to the exigencies of their affairs, to adopt such govern-
ment as would, in the opinion of the representatives of the peo-
ple, best conduce to the happiness and safety of their constitu-
ents in particular, and America in general.

This significant vote was soon followed by the direct
proposition which Richard Henry Lee had the honor to
submit to Congress, by resolution, on the 7th day of June.
The published journal does not expressly state it, but there
is no doubt, I suppose, that this resolution was in the same
words, when originally submitted by Mr. Lee, as when finally
passed. Having been discussed on Saturday, the 8th, and
Monday, the 10th of June, this resolution was on the last-
mentioned day postponed for further consideration to the
first day of July ; and at the same time it was voted, that a
committee be appointed to prepare a Declaration to the
effect of the resohition. This committee was elected by
ballot, on the following day, and consisted of Thomas Jef-
ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman,
and Robert R. Livingston.

It is usual, when committees are elected by ballot, that
their members should be arranged in order, according to
the number of votes which each has received. Mr. Jeffer-
son, tlierefore, had received the highest, and Mr. Adams the
next highest number of votes. The difference is said to
have been but of a single vote. Mr. .TefFerson and Mr. Ad-
ams, standing thus at the head of the coftimittee, were re-
. quested by the other members to act as a sub-committee to
prepare the draft ; and Mr. Jefferson drew up the paper.
The original draft as brought by him from his study, and
submitted to the other members of the committee, with in-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 73

terlineations in the handwriting of Dr. Franklin, and others
in tliat of Mr. Adams, was in Mr. Jefferson's possession at
the time of his death. The merit of this paper is Mr.
Jefferson's. Some changes were made in it at the sugges-
tion of other members of the committee, and others by
Congress while it was under discussion. But none of them
altered the tone, the frame, the arrangement, or the general
character of the instrument. As a composition, the Decla-
ration is Mr. Jefferson's. It is the production of his mind,
and the high honor of it belongs to him, clearly and
absolutely.

It has sometimes been said, as if it were a derogation from
the merits of this paper, that it contains nothing new ; that it
only states grounds of proceeding, and presses topics of argu-
ment, which had often been stated and pressed before. But
it was not the object of the Declaration to produce any thing
new. It was not to invent reasons for Independence, but
to state those which governed the Congress. For great and
sufficient causes, it was proposed to declare independence ;
and the proper business of the paper to be drawn was to
set forth those causes, and justify the authors of the meas-
ure, in any event of fortune, to the country and to posterity.
The cause of American independence, moreover, was now
to be presented to the world in such manner, if it might so
be, as to engage its sympathy, to command its respect, to
attract its admiration ; and in an assembly of most able and
distinguished men, Thomas Jefferson had the high honor of
being the selected advocate of this cause. To say that he
performed his great work well, would be doing him injustice.
To say that he did excellently well, admirably well, would
be inadequate and halting praise. Let us rather say, that
he. so discharged the duty assigned him, that all Americans
may well rejoice that the work of drawing the title deed of
their liberties devolved upon him.

With all its merits, there are those who have thought that
there was one thing in the Declaration to be regretted ; and •
that is, the asperity and apparent anger with which it speaks
of the person of the king ; the industrious ability with which
it accumulates and charges upon him all the injuries which

74 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the Colonies had suffered from the mother country. Pos-
sibly some degree of injustice, now or hereafter, at home or
abroad, may be done to the character of Mr. .Jefferson, if
this part of the declaration be not placed in its proper light.
Anger or resentment, certainly much less personal reproach
and invective, could not properly find place in a compo-
sition of such high dignity, and of such lofty and permanent
character.

A single reflection on the original ground of dispute be-
tween England and the Colonies is sufficient to remove any
unfavorable impression in this respect.

The inhabitants of all the Colonies, while Colonies, ad-
mitted themselves bound by their allegiance to the king;
but they disclaimed altogether the authority of Parliament ;
holding themselves, in this respect, to resemble the condition
of Scotland and Ireland before the respective unions of those
kingdoms with England, when they acknowledged allegiance
to the same king, but had each its separate legislature.
The tie, therefore, which our revolution was to break did
not subsist between us and the British Parhament, or be-
tween us and the British government in the aggregate, but
directly between us and the king himself The Colonies
had never admitted themselves subject to Parliament. That
was precisely the point of the original controversy. They
had uniformly denied that Parliament had authority to make
laws for them. There was, therefore, no subjection to
Parliament to be thrown off. But allegiance to the king
did exist, and had been uniformly acknowledged ; and down
to 1775 the most solemn assurances had been given that it
was not intended to break that allegiance, or to throw it off.
Therefore, as the direct object and only effect of the Decla-
ration, according to the principles on which the controversy
had been maintained on our part, were to sever the tie of
allegiance which bound us to the king, it was properly and
necessarily founded on acts of the crown itself, as its justi-
fying causes. Parliament is not so much as mentioned in
the whole instrument. When odious and oppressive acts
are referred to, it is done by charging the king with con-
federating with others " in pretended acts of legislation ; "

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 75

the object being constantly to hold the king himself directly
responsible for those measures which were the grounds of
separation. Even the precedent of the English Revolution
was not overlooked, and in this case, as well as in that, oc-
casion was found to say that the king had abdicated the
government. Consistency with the principles upon which
resistance began, and with all the previous state papers is-
sued by Congress, required that the Declaration should be
bottomed on the misgovernment of the king ; and therefore
it was properly framed with that aim and to that end. The
king was known, indeed, to have acted, as in other cases,
by his ministers, and with his Parliament ; but as our ances-
tors had never admitted themselves subject either to minis-
ters or to Parliament, there were no reasons to be given for
now refusing obedience to their authority. This clear and
obvious necessity of founding the Declaration on the mis-
conduct of the king himself, gives to that instrument its per-
sonal application, and its character of direct and pointed
accusation.

The Declaration having been reported to Congress by
the committee, the resolution itself was taken up and de-
bated on the first day of July, and again on the second,
on which last day it was agreed to and adopted, in these
words : —

" Resolved, That these united Colonies are, and of right
ought to be, free and independent States ; that they are
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that
all political connection between them and the State of Great
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."

Having thus passed the main resolution. Congress pro-
ceeded to consider the reported draught of the Declaration.
It was discussed on the second, and third, and fourth days
of the month, in committee of the whole ; and on the last
of those days, being reported from that committee, it re-
ceived the final approbation and sanction of Congress. It
was ordered, at the same time, that copies be sent to the
several States, and that it be proclaimed at the head of the
army. The Declaration thus published did not bear the
names of the members, for as yet it had not been signed by

76 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK

them. It was authenticated, like other papers of the Con
gress, by the signatures of the President and Secretary
On the 19th of July, as appears by the secret journal, Con-
gress " Kesolved, That the Declaration, passed on the fourth,
be fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and style
of ' The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen
. United States of America ; ' and that the same, when
engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress." And
on the second day of august following, *' the Declaration,
being engrossed and compared at the table, was signed by
the members." So that it happens, fellow-citizens, that we
pay these honors to their memory on the anniversary of
tliat day (2d of August) on which these great men actually
signed their names to the Declaration. The Declaration
was thus made, that is, it passed and was adopted as an act
of Congress, on the fourth of July ; it was then signed and
certified by the President and Secretary, like other acts.
The Fourth of July, therefore, is the anniversary of
THE Declaration. But the signatures of the members
present were made to it, being then engrossed on parch-
ment, on the second day of August. Absent members af-
terwards signed, as they came in ; and indeed it bears the
names of some who were not chosen members of Congress
until after the fourth of July. The' interest belonging
to the subject will be sufficient, 1 hope, to justify these
details.

The Congress of the Revolution, fellow-citizens, sat with
closed doors, and no report of its debates was ever made.
The discussion, therefore, which accompanied this great
measure, has never been preserved, excejDt in memory and
by tradition. But it is, I believe, doing no injustice to oth-
ers to say, that the general opinion was, and uniformly has
been, that in debate, on the side of independence, John
Adams had no equal. The great author of the Declaration
himself has expressed that opinion uniformly and strongly.
" John Adams," said he, in the hearing of him who has
now the honor to address you, "John Adams was our co-
lossus on the floor. Not graceful, not elegant, not always
fluent, in liis public addresses, he yet came out with a power

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 77

both of thought and expression, which moved us from our
seats."

For the part which he was here to perform, Mr. Adams
doubtless was eminently fitted. He possessed a bold spirit,
which disregarded danger, and a sanguine reliance on the
goodness of the cause, and the virtues of the people, which
led him to overlook all obstacles. His character, too, had
been formed nn troubled times. He had been rocked in the
early storms of the controversy, and had acquired a de-
cision and a hardihood proportioned to the severity of the
discipline which he had undergone.

He not only loved the American cause devoutly, but had
studied and understood it. It was all familiar to him. He had
tried his powers on the questions which it involved, often and
in various ways; and had brought to their consideration what-
ever of argument or illustration the history of his own coun-
try, the history of England, or the stores of ancient or of
legal learning could furnish. Every grievance enumerated
in the lono; cataloo^ue of the Declaration had been the sub-
ject of his discussion, and the object of his remonstrance
and reprobation. From 1760, the Colonies, the rights of
the Colonies, the liberties of the Colonies, and the wrongs
inflicted on the Colonies, had engaged his constant attention ;
and it has surprised those who have had the opportunity of
witnessing it, with what full remembrance and with what
prompt recollection he could refer, in his extreme old age,
to every act of Parliament affecting the Colonies, distin-
guishing and stating their respective titles, sections, and
provisions ; and to all the Colonial memorials, remon-
strances, and petitions, with whatever else belonged to
the intimate and exact history of the times from that
year to 1775. It was, in his own judgment, between these
years that the American people came to a full understanding
and thorough knowledge of their rights, and to a fixed reso-
lution of maintaining them ; and bearing himself an active
part in all important transactions, the controversy with Eng-
land being then in effect the business of his life, facts, dates,
and particulars made an impression which was never effaced.
He was prepared, therefore, by education and discipline, as

79 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

well as by natural talent and natural temperament, for the
part which he was now to act.

The eloquence of Mr. Adams resembled his general char-
acter, and formed, indeed, a part of it. It was bold, manly,
and energetic ; and such the crisis required. When public
bodies are to be addressed on momentous occasions, when
great interests are at stake, and strong passions excited,
nothing is valuable in speech further than as it is connected
with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness,
force, and earnestness are the qualities which produce con-
viction. True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech.
It cannot be brought from far. Labor and learning may
toil for it, but they will toil in vain. Words and phrases
may be marshalled in every way, but they cannot compass
it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the oc-
casion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of
declamation, all may aspire to it ; they cannot reach it. It
comes, if it come at all, like the outbreaking of a fountain
from the earth, or the bursting forth of volcanic fires, with
spontaneous, original, native force. The graces taught in
the schools, the costly ornaments and studied contrivances
of speech, shock and disgust men, when their own lives, and
the fate of their wives, their children, and their country,
hang on the decision of the hour. Then words have lost
their power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory con-
temptible. Even genius itself then feels rebuked and sub-
dued, as in the presence of higher qualities. Then patriot-
ism is eloquent ; then self-devotion is eloquent. The clear
conception, outrunning the deductions of logic, the high
purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless spirit, speaking on
the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing every feature,
and urging the whole man onward, right onward to his ob-
ject,— this, this is eloquence; or rather it is something
greater and higher than all eloquence, it is action, noble,
sublime, godlike action.

In July, 1776, the controversy had passed the stage of
argument. An appeal had been made to force, and oppos-
ing armies were in the field. Congress, then, was to decide
whether the tie which had so long bound us to the parent

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 79

State was to be severed at once, and severed for ever. All
the Colonies had sig:nified their resolution to abide by this
decision, and the people looked for it with the most intense
anxiety. And surely, fellow-citizens, never, never were
men called to a more important political dehberation. If
we contemplate it from the point where they then stood, no
question could be more full of interest ; if we look at it now,
and judge of its importance by its effects, it appears of still
greater magnitude.

Let us, then, bring before us the assembly, which was
about to decide a question thus big with the fate of em-
pire. Let us open their doors and look in upon their de-
liberations. Let us survey the anxious and careworn coun-
tenances, let us hear the firm-toned voices of this band of
patriots.

Hancock presides over the solemn sitting ; and one of
those not yet prepared to pronounce for absolute independ-
ence is on the floor, and is urging his reasons for dissent-
ing from the declaration.

" Let us pause ! This step, once taken, cannot be re-
traced. This resolution, once passed, will cut off all hope
of reconciliation. If success attend the arms of England,
we shall then be no longer Colonies, with charters and with
privileges ; these will all be forfeited by this act ; and we shall
be in the condition of other conquered people, at the mercy
of the conquerors. For ourselves, we may be ready to run
the hazard ; but are we ready to carry the country to that
length ? Is success so probable as to justify it ? Where is
the military, where the naval power, by which we are to
resist the whole strength of the arm of England, for she
will exert that strength to the utmost ? Can we rely on
the constancy and perseverance of the people ? or will they
not act as the people of other countries have acted, and,
wearied with a long war, submit, in the end, to a worse
oppression ? While we stand on our old ground, and insist
on redress of grievances, we know we are right, and are not
answerable for consequences. Nothing, then, can be im-
puted to us. But if we now change our object, carry our
pretensions farther, and set up for absolute independence,

80 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

we shall lose the sympathy of mankind. We shall no long-
er be defending what we possess, but struggling for some-
thing which we never did possess, and which we have sol-
emnly and uniformly disclaimed all intention of pursuing,
from the very outset of the troubles. Abandoning thus our
old ground, of resistance only to arbitrary acts of oppres-
sion, the nations will believe the whole to have been mere
pretence, and they will look on us, not as injured, but as
ambitious subjects. I shudder before this responsibility. It
will be on us, if, relinquishing the ground on which we have
stood so long, and stood so safely, we now proclaim inde-
pendence, and carry on the war for that object, while these
cities burn, these pleasant fields whiten and bleach with the
bones of th'eir owners, and these streams run blood. It will
be upon us, it will be upon us, if, failing to maintain this
unseasonable and ill-judged declaration, a sterner despotism,
maintained by military power, shall be established over our
posterity, when we ourselves, given up by an exhausted, a
harassed, a misled people, shall have expiated our rashness
and atoned for our presumption on the scaffold."

it was for Mr. Adams to reply to arguments like these.
We know his opinions, and we know his character. He
would commence with his accustomed directness and ear-
nestness.

" Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my
hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in
the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there's a
Divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England
has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest for
our good, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is
now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and
it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the Declaration ? Is
any man so weak as now to hope for a reconciliation with
England, which shall leave either safety to the country and
its liberties, or safety to his own life and his own honor ? Are
not you. Sir, who sit in that chair, is not he, our venerable
colleague near you, are you not both already the proscribed
and predestined objects of punishment and of vengeance 7
Cut off from all hope of royal clemency, what are you, what

SELECTIONS PROM WEBSTER. 81

can you be, while the power of England remains, but outlaws ?
If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on, or to
give up the w^ar ? Do we mean to submit to the measures
of Parliament, Boston Port Bill and all 1 Do we mean to
submit, and consent that we ourselves shall be ground to
powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the
dust ? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall
submit. Do we intend to violate that most solemn obliga-
tion ever entered into by men, that plighting, before God,
of our sacred honor to Washington, when, putting him forth
to incur the dangers of war, as well as the political hazards of
the times, we promised to adhere to him, in every extremity,
with our fortunes and our lives ? I know there is not a man
here, who would not rather see a general conflagration sweep
over the land, or an earthquake sink it, than one jot or
tittle of that plighted faith fall to the ground. For myself,
having, twelve months ago, in this place, moved you, that
George Washington be appointed commander of the forces
raised, or to be raised, for defence of American liberty, may
my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to
the roof of my mouth, if I hesitate or waver in the support
I give him.

" The war, then, must go on. We must fight it through.
And if the war must go on, why put off longer the Dec-
laration of Independence ? That measure will strengthen
us. It will give us character abroad. The nations will
then treat with us, which they never can do while we ac-
knowledge ourselves subjects, in arms against our sovereign.
Nay, I maintain that England herself will sooner treat for
peace with us on the footing of independence, than consent,
by repealing her acts, to acknowledge that her whole con-
duct towards us has been a course of injustice and oppres-
sion. Her pride fvill be less wounded by submitting to that
course of things which now predestinates our independence,
than by yielding the points in controversy to her rebelhou?
subjects. The former she would regard as the result of
fortune ; the latter she would feel as her own deep dis-
grace. Why, then, why, then, Sir, do we not as soon as
possible change this from a civil to a national war 1 And
6

82 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

since we must fight it through, wiiy not put ourselves in a state
to enjoy all the benefits of victory, if we gain the victory?

" If we fail, it can be no worse for us. But we shall not
fail. The cause will raise up armies ; the cause will create
navies. The people, the people, if we are true to them,
will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously, through
this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been
found. I know the people of these Colonies, and I know
that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in
their hearts and cannot be eradicated. Every Colony, in-
deed, has expressed its willingness to follow, if we but take
the lead. Sir, the Declaration will inspire the people with
increased courage. Instead of a long and bloody war for
the restoration of privileges, for redress of grievances, for
chartered immunities, held under a British king, set before
them the glorious object of entire independence, and it will
breathe into them anew the breath of life. Read this Dec-
laration at the head of the army ; every sword will be drawn
from its scabbard, and the solemn vow uttered, to maintain
it, or to perish on the bed of honor. Publish it from the
pulpit ; religion will approve it, and the love of religious
hberty will cling round it, resolved to stand with it, or fall
with it. Send it to the public halls ; proclaim it there ; let
them hear it who heard the first roar of the enemy's cannon ;
let them see it who saw their brothers and their sons fall on
the field of Bunker Hill, and in the streets of Lexington
and Concord, and the very walls will cry out in its support.

"Sir, I know the uncertainty of human affairs, but I see,
I see clearly, through this day's business. You and I, in-
deed, may rue it. We may not live to the time when this
Declaration shall be made good. We may die ; die colo-
nists ; die slaves ; die, it may be, ignominiously and on the
scafibld. Be it so. Be it so. If it be the pleasure of
Heaven that my country shall require the poor ofiering of
my life, the victim shall be ready at the appointed hour
of sacrifice, come when that hour may. But while 1 do
live, let me have a country, or at least the hope of a coun-
try, and that a free country.

" But whatever may be our fate, be assured, be assured

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 83

that this Declaration will stand. It may cost treasure, and
it may cost blood ; but it will stand, and it will richly
compensate for both. Through the thick gloom of the
present, I see the brightness of the future, as the sun in
heaven. We shall make this a glorious, an immortal day.
When we are in our graves, our children will honor it.
They will celebrate it with thanksgiving, with festivity, with
bonfires, and illuminations. On its annual return they will
shed tears, copious, gushing tears, not of subjection and
slavery, not of agony and distress, but of exultation, of
gratitude, and of joy. Sir, before God, I believe the hour
is come. My judgment approves this measure, and my
whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and
all that I hope, in this life, I am now ready here to stake
upon it; and I leave off as I begun, that live or die, survive
or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living senti-
ment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sen-
timent. Independence now, and independence for ever."

And so that day shall be honored, illustrious prophet and
patriot ! so that day shall be honored, and as often as it.
returns, thy renown shall come along with it, and the glory
of thy life, like the day of thy death, shall not fail from the
remembrance of men.

It would be unjust, fellow-citizens, on this occasion, while
we express our veneration for him who is the immediate
subject of these remarks, were we to omit a most respectful,
aifectionate, and grateful mention of those other great men,
his colleagues, who stood with him, and with the same spirit,
the same devotion, took part in the interesting transaction.
Hancock, the proscribed Hancock, exiled from his home by
a military governor, cut off by proclamation from the mercy
of the crown, — Heaven reserved for him the distinguished
honor of putting this great question to the vote, and of
writing his own name first, and most conspicuously, on that
parchment which spoke defiance to the power of the crown
of England. There, too, is the name of that other pro-
scribed patriot, Samuel Adams, a man who hungered and
thirsted for the independence of his country ; who thought
the Declaration halted and lingered, being himself not only

84 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ready, but eager, for it, long before it was proposed ; a man
of the deepest sagacity, the clearest foresight, and the pro-
foundest judgment in men. And there is Gerry, himself
among the earliest and the foremost of the patriots, found,
when the battle of Lexington summoned them to common
counsels, by the side of Warren ; a man who lived to serve
his country at home and abroad, and to die in the second
place in the government. There, too, is the inflexible, the
upright, the Spartan character, Robert Treat Paine. He
also lived to serve his country through the struggle, and
then withdrew from her councils only that he might give his
labors and his life to his native State in another relation.
These names, fellow-citizens, are the treasures of the Com-
monwealth ; and they are treasures which grow brighter by
time.

Mr. Adams remained in Congress from its first meetmg
till November, 1777, when he was appointed Minister to
France. He proceeded on that service in the February
following, embarking in the frigate Boston, from the shore of
his native town, at the foot of Mount Wollaston. The year
following, he was appointed commissioner to treat of peace
with England. Returning to the United States, he was a
delegate from Braintree in the Convention for framing the
Constitution of this Commonwealth, in 1780. At the latter
end of the same year, he again went abroad in the diplo-
matic service of the country, and was employed at various
courts, and occupied with various negotiations, until 1788.
The particulars of these interesting and important services
this occasion does not allow time to relate. In 1782 he con-
cluded our first treaty with Holland. His negotiations with
that republic, his eff()rts to persuade the States General to
recognize our independence, his incessant and indefatigable
exertions to represent the American cause favorably on the
Continent, and to counteract the designs of its enemies,
open and secret, and his successful undertaking to obtain
loans, on the credit of a nation yet new and unknown,
are among his most arduous, most useful, most honorable
services. It was his fortune to bear a part in the negotia-
tion for peace with England, and in something more than

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 85

six years from the Declaration which he had so strenuously
supj3orted, he had the satisfaction of seeing the minister
plenipotentiary of the crown subscribe his name to the in-
strument which declared that his " Britannic Majesty ac-
knowledged the United States to be free, sovereign, and in-
dependent." In these important transactions, Mr. Adams's
conduct received the marked approbation of Congress and
of the country.

Returning to the United States in 1788, he found the new
government about going into operation, and was himself
elected the first Vice President, a situation which he filled
with reputation for eight years, at the expiration of which
he was raised to the Presidential chair, as immediate suc-
cessor to the immortal Washington. In this high station
he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, after a memorable con-
troversy between their respective friends, in 1801 ; and from
that period his manner of life has been known to all who
hear me. He has lived, for five and twenty years, with
every enjoyment that could render old age happy. Not in-
attentive to the occurrences of the times, political cares have
yet not materially, or for any long time, disturbed his repose.
In 1820 he acted as elector of President and Vice President,
and in the same year we saw him, then at the age of eighty-
five, a member of the Convention of this Commonvvealtli
called to revise the Constitution. Forty years before, he
had been one of those who formed that Constitution ; and
he had now the pleasure of witnessing that there was little
which the people desired to change. Possessing all his
faculties to the end of his long life, with an unabated love
of reading and contemplation, in the centre of interesting
circles of friendship and affection, he was blessed in his
retirement with whatever of repose and felicity the condition
of man allows. He had, also, other enjoyments. He saw
around him that prosperity and general happiness which
had been the object of his public cares and labors. No
man ever beheld more clearly, and for a longer time, tlie
great and beneficial effects of the services rendered by
himself to his country. That liberty which he so early
defended, that independence of which he was so al)le an

86 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

advocate and supporter, he saw, we trust, firmly and se-
curely established. The population of the country thick-
ened around him faster, and extended wider, than his own
sanguine predictions had anticipated ; and the wealth, re-
spectability, and power of the nation sprang" up to a magni-
tude which it is quite impossible he could have expected to
witness in his day. He lived also to behold those principles
of civil freedom which had been developed, established, and
practically applied in America, attract attention, command
respect, and awaken imitation, in other regions of the globe ;
and well might, and well did, he exclaim, " Where will the
consequences of the American Revolution end ? "

If any thing yet remain to fill this cup of happiness, let it
be added, that he lived to see a great and intelligent people
bestow the highest honor in their gift where he had bestowed
his own kindest parental afiiections and lodged his fondest
hopes. Thus honored in life, thus happy at death, he saw
the JUBILEE, and he died ; and with the last prayers which
trembled on his liyjs was the fervent supplication for his
country, "Independence for ever!"

Mr. .TeflTerson having been occupied in the years 1778 and
1779 in the important service of revising the laws of Vir-
ginia, was elected Governor of that State, as successor to
Patrick Henry, and held the situation when the State was
invaded by the British arms. In 1781 he published his
Notes on Virginia, a work which attracted attention in Eu-
rope as well as America, dispelled many misconceptions
respecting this continent, and gave its author a place among
men distinguished for science. In November, 1783, he
again took his seat in the Continental Congress, but in the
May following was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary, to
act abroad, in the negotiation of commercial treaties, with
Dr. Franklin and Mr. Adams. He proceeded to France in
execution of this mission, embarking at Boston ; and that
was the only occasion on which he ever visited this place.
In 1785 he was appointed Minister to France, the duties of
which situation lie continued to perform until October, 1789,
when he obtained leave to retire, just on the eve of that
tremendous revolution which has so much agitated the world

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 87

in our times. Mr. .TefFerson's discharge of his diplomatic
duties was marked by great ability, diligence, and patriot-
ism ; and while he resided at Paris, in one of the most in-
teresting periods, his character for intelligence, his love of
knowledge and of the society of learned men, distinguished
him in the highest circles of the French capital. No court
in Europe had at that time in Paris a representative com-
manding or enjoying higher regard, for political knowledge
or for general attainments, than the minister of this liien
infant republic. Immediately on his return to his native
country, at the organization of the government under the
present Constitution, his talents and experience recommend-
ed him to President Washington for the first office in his
gift. He was placed at the head of the Department of State.
In this situation, also, he manifested conspicuous ability.
His correspondence with the ministers of other powers ro
siding here, and his instructions to our own diplomatic
agents abroad, are among our ablest state papers. A thor-
ough knowledge of the laws and usages of nations, perfect
acquaintance with the immediate subject before him, great
felicity, and still greater facility, in writing, show themselves
in whatever effort his official situation called on him to make.
It is believed by competent judges, that the diplomatic in-
tercourse of the government of the United States, from the
first meeting of the Continental Congress in 1774 to the
present time, taken together, would not suffer, in respect to
the talent with which it has been conducted, by comparison
with any thing which other and older governments can pro-
duce ; and to the attainment of this respectability and dis-
tinction Mr. Jefferson has contributed his full part.

On the retirement of General Washington from the Presi-
dency, and the election of Mr. Adams to that office in 1797,
he was chosen Vice President. While presiding in tbis
capacity over the deliberations of the Senate, he compiled
and published a Manual of Parliamentary Practice, a work
of more labor and more merit than is indicated by its size.
It is now received as the general standard by which proceed-
ings are regulated, not only in both Houses of Congress, but
in most of the other legislative bodies in the country. In

88 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

1801 he was elected President, in opposition to Mr. Adams,
and reelected in 1805, by a vote approaching towards
unanimity.

From the time of his final retirement from public life, in
1808, Mr. Jefferson lived as became a wise man. Surround-
ed by affectionate friends, his ardor in the pursuit of knowl-
edge undiminished, with uncommon health and unbroken
spirits, he was able to enjoy largely the rational pleasures
of life, and to partake in that public prosperity which he
had so much contributed to produce. His kindness and
hospitality, the charm of his conversation, the ease of his
manners, the extent of his acquirements, and, especially, the
full store of Revolutionary incidents which he had treasured
in his memory, and which he knew when and how to
dispense, rendered his abode in a high degree attractive to
his admiring countrymen, while his high public and scien-
tific character drew towards him every intelligent and edu-
cated traveller from abroad. Both Mr. Adams and Mr.
.Jefferson had the pleasure of knowing that the respect which
they so largely received was not paid to their official stations.
They were not men made great by office ; but great men,
on whom the country for its own benefit had conferred office.
There was that in them which office did not give, and which
the relinquishment of office did not, and could not, take
away. In their retirement, in the midst of their fellow-
citizens, themselves private citizens, they enjoyed as high
regard and esteem as when filling the most important places
of public trust.

There remained to Mr. Jefferson yet one other work of
patriotism and beneficence, the establishment of a university
in his native State. To this object he devoted years of inces-
sant and anxious attention, and by the enhghtened liberality
of the Legislature of Virginia, and the cooperation of other
able and zealous friends, he lived to see it accomplished.
May all success attend this infant seminary ; and may those
who enjoy its advantages, as often as their eyes shall rest on
the neighboring height, recollect what they owe to their
disinterested and indefatigable benefactor ; and may letters
honor him who thus labored in the cause of letters '

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSIER. 89

Thus useful, and thus respected, passed the old age of
Thomas JeiFerson. But time was on its ever-ceaseless
wing, and was now bringing the last hour of this illustrious
man. He saw its approach with undisturbed serenity. He
counted the moments as they passed, and beheld that his
last sands were falling. That day, too, was at hand which
he had helped to make immortal. One wish, one hope, if it
were not presumptous, beat in his fainting breast. Could it
be so, might it please God, he would desire once more to
see the sun, once more to look abroad on the scene around
him, on the great day of liberty. Heaven, in its mercy, ful-
filled that prayer. He saw that sun, he enjoyed its sacred
light, he thanked God for this mercy, and bowed his aged
head to the grave. "Felix, non vitae tantum claritate, sed
etiam opportunitate mortis."

The last public labor of Mr. .TefFerson naturally suggests
the expression of the high praise which is due, both to him
and to Mr. Adams, for their uniform and zealous attachment
to learning, and to the cause of general knowledge. Of the
advantages of learning, indeed, and of literary accomplish-
ments, their own characters were striking recommendations
and illustrations. They were scholars, ripe and good schol-
ars ; widely acquainted with ancient, as well as moder^i
literature, and not altogether uninstructed in the deeper
sciences. Their acquirements, doubtless, were different,
and so were the particular objects of their literary pursuits ;
as their tastes and characters, in these respects, differed hke
those of other men. Being, also, men of busy lives, with
great objects requiring action constantly before them, their
attainments in letters did not become showy or obtrusive.
Yet I would hazard the opinion, that, if we could now as-
certain all the causes which gave them eminence and dis-
tinction in the midst of the great men with whom they
acted, we should find not among the least their early acqui-
sitions in literature, the resources which it furnished, the
promptitude and facility which it communicated, and the
wide field it opened for analogy and illustration ; giving them
thus, on every subject, a larger view, and a broader range, as
well for discussion as for the government of their own conduct.

90 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Literature sometimes disgusts, and pretension to it much
oftener disgusts, by appearing to hang loosely on the char-
acter, like something foreign or extraneous, not a part, but
an ill-adjusted appendage ; or by seeming to overload and
weigh it down by its unsightly bulk, like the productions of
bad taste in architecture, where there is massy and cum-
brous ornament without strength or solidity of column. This
has exposed learning, and especially classical learning, to
reproach. Men have seen that it might exist without men-
tal superiority, without vigor, without good taste, and with-
out utility. But in such cases classical learning has only
not inspired natural talent, or, at most, it has but made
original feebleness of intellect, and natural bluntness of per-
ception, something more conspicuous. The question, after
all, if it be a question, is, whether literature, ancient as well
as modern, does not assist a good understanding, improve
natural good taste, add polished armor to native strength,
and render its possessor, not only more capable of deriving
private happiness from contemplation and reflection, but
more accomplished also for action in the affairs of life, and
especially for public action. Those whose memories we
now honor were learned men ; but their learning was kept
in its proper place, and made subservient to the uses and
objects of life. They were scholars, not common nor super-
ficial ; but their scholarship was so in keeping with their
character, so blended and inwrought, that careless observers,
or bad judges, not seeing an ostentatious display of it, pight
infer that it did not exist ; forgetting, or not knowing, that
classical learning in men who act in conspicuous public
stations, perform duties which exercise the faculty of writ-
ing, or address popular, deliberative, or judicial bodies, is
often felt where it is little seen, and sometimes felt more
effectually because it is not seen at all.

But the cause of knowledge, in a more enlarged sense,
the cause of general knowledge and of popular education,
had no warmer friends, nor more powerful advocates, than
Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson. On this foundation they
knew the whole republican system rested ; and this great and
all-important truth they strove to impress, by all the means

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 91

in their power. In the early pubheation ah'eady referred
to, Mr. Adams expresses the strong and just sentiment, that
the education of the poor is more important, even to the
rich themselves, than all their own riclies. On. tliis great
truth, indeed, is founded that unrivalled, that invaluable
political and moral institution, our own blessing and the
glory of our fathers, the New England system of free
schools.

As the promotion of knowledge had been the object of
their regard througb life, so these great men made it the
subject of their testamentary bounty. Mr. .TefFerson is un-
derstood to liave bequeathed his library to the University of
Virginia, and that of Mr. Adams is bestowed on the inhabit-
ants of Q,uincy.

No men, fellow-citizens, ever served their country with
more entire exemption from every imputation of selfisli and
mercenary motives, than those to whose memory we are pay-
ing these proofs of respect. A suspicion of any disposition to
enrich themselves, or to profit by their public emph)yments,
never rested on either. No sordid motive approached tiieni.
The inheritance which thev have left to their children is of
their character and their fame.

Fellow-citizens, I will detain you no longer by this faint
and feeble tribute to the memory of the illustrious dead.
Even in other hands, adequate justice could not be done to
them, within the limits of this occasion. Their higiiest,
their best praise, is your deep conviction of tlieir merits,
your affectionate gratitude for their labors and their services.
It is not my voice, it is this cessation of ordinary pursuits,
this arresting of all attention, these solemn ceremonies, aiid
this crowded house, which speak their eulogy. Their fame,
indeed, is safe. That is now treasured up beyond tlie
reach of accident. Although no sculptured marble should
rise to their memory, nor engraved stone bear record of
their deeds, yet \\\\\ their remembrance be as lasting as the
laiid they honored. Marble columns may, indeed, moulder
into dust, time may erase all impress from the crumbling
stone, but their fame remains ; for with American liberty
it rose, and with American liberty only can it perish, it

92. CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

was the last swelling peal of yonder choir, ** Their bodies

ARE buried in PEACE, BUT THEIR NAME LIVETH EVER-
MORE." I catch that solemn song, I echo that lofty strain
of funeral triumph, " Their name liveth evermore."

And no\V, fellow-citizens, let us not retire from this oc-
casion without a deep and solemn conviction of the duties
which have devolved upon us. This lovely land, this glorious
liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our
fathers, are ours ; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to
transmit. Generations past and generations to come hold
us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from be-
hind, admonish us, with their anxious paternal voices ; pos-
terity calls out to us, from the bosom of the future ; the
world turns hither its solicitous eyes ; all, all conjure us to
act wisely, and faithfully, in the relation which we sustain.
We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us ; but
by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every
good principle, and every good habit, we may hope to en-
joy the blessing, through our day, and to leave it unimpaired
to our children. Let us feel deeply how much of what we
are and of what we possess we owe to this liberty, and to these
institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, given us a
soil which yields bounteously to the hand of industry, the
mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over
our heads shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and
seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society, without
knowledge, without morals, without religious culture ; and
how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent, and all
their excellence, but under the protection of wise insti-
tutions and a free government 1 Fellow-citizens, there is
not one of us, there is not one of us here present, who
does not, at this moment, and at every moment, experi-
ence, in his own condition, and in the condition of those
most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits
of this liberty and these institutions. Let us then acknowl-
edge the blessing, let us feel it deeply and powerfully, let
us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain
and perpetuate it. The blood of our fathers, let it not have
been shed in vain ; the great hope of posterity, let it not be
blasted.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 93

The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the world
around us, a topic to trhich, I fear, I advert too often, and
dwell on too long, cannot be altogether omitted here.
Neither individuals nor nations can perform their part well,
until they understand and feel its importance, and compre-
hend and justly appreciate all the duties belonging to it. It
is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell a light and
empty feeling of self-importance, but it is that we may judge
justly of our situation, and of our own duties, that I earnest-
ly urge upon you this consideration of our position and our
character among the nations of the earth. It cannot be
denied, but by those who would dispute against the sun, that
with America, and in America, a new era commences in
human affairs. This era is distinguished by free represen-
tative governments, by entire religious liberty, by improved
systems of national intercourse, by a newly-awakened and
an unconquerable spirit of free inquiry, and by a dif-
fusion of knowledge through the community, such as has
been before altogether unknown and unheard of. America,
America, our country, fellow-citizens, our own dear and
native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound up, in
fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall,
we fall with them ; if they stand, it will be because we have
maintained them. Let us contemplate, then, this connection,
which binds the prosperity of others to our own ; and let
us manfully discharge all the duties which it imposes. If
we cherish the virtues and the principles of our fathers.
Heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty
and human happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us. Great
examples are before us. Our own firmament now shines
brightly upon our patli. Washington is in the clear,
upper sky. These other stars have now joined the Ameri-
can constellation ; they circle round their centre, and the
heavens beam with new light. Beneath this illumination
let us walk the course of life, and at its close devoutly com-
mend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, to
the Divine Benignity.

94 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

REVOLUTIONARY OFFiCERS.

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 25th of April, 1828, on the Bill
for the Relief of the Surviving Officers of the Revolution.

Mr. President, — It has not been my purpose to take
any part in the discussion of this bill. My opinions in re-
gard to its general object, I hope, are well known ; and I
had intended to content myself with a steady and persevering
vote in its favor. But when the moment of final decision
has come, and the division is so likely to be nearly equal, I
feel it to be a duty to put, not only my own vote, but my
own earnest wishes also, and my fervent entreaties to others,
into the doubtful scale.

It must be admitted, Sir, that the persons for whose
benefit this bill is designed are, in some respects, peculiarly
unfortunate. They are compelled to meet not only ob-
jections to the principle, but, whichever way they turn
themselves, embarrassing objections also to details. One
friend hesitates at this provision, and another at that ; while
those who are not friends at all of course oppose every
thing, and propose nothing. When it was contemplated,
heretofore, to give the petitioners a sum outright in satisfac-
tion of their claim, then the argument was, among other
things, that the treasury could not bear so heavy a draught
on its means at the present moment. The plan is accord-
ingly changed ; an annuity is proposed ; and then the
objection changes also. It is now said, that this is but
granting pensions, and that the pension system has already
been carried too far. I confess, Sir, I felt wounded, deeply
hurt, at the observations of the gentleman from Georgia.
" So, then," said he, " these modest and high-minded gen-
tlemen take a pension at last ! " How is it possible that a
gentleman of his generosity of character, and general kind-
ness of feeling, can indulge in such a tone of triumphant
irony towards a few old, gray-headed, poor, and broken
warriors of the Revolution ! There is, I know, something
repulsive and opprobrious in the name of pension. But God
forbid that i should taunt them with it ! With grief, heart-
felt grief, do I behold the necessity which leads these vet-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 95

erans to accept the bounty of their country, in a manner not
the most agreeable to their feeling's. Worn out and decrepit,
represented before us by those, their former brothers in
arms, who totter along our lobbies, or stand leaning on their
crutches, I, for one, would most gladly support such a meas-
ure as should consult at once their services, their years, their
necessities, and the delicacy of their sentiments. I would
gladly give, with promptitude and grace, with gratitude
and delicacy, that which merit has earned and necessity
demands.

Sir, what are the objections urged against this bill ? Let
us look at them, and see if they be real ; let us weigh them,
to know if they be solid ; for we are not acting on a slight
matter, nor is what we do likely to pass unobserved now, or
to be forgotten hereafter. I regard the occasion as one full
of interest and full of responsibility. Those individuals, the
little remnant of a gallant band, whose days of youth and
manhood were spent for their country in the toils and dan-
gers of the field, are now before us, poor and old — inti-
mating their wants with reluctant delicacy, and asking succor
from their country with decorous solicitude. How we shall
treat them it behooves us well to consider, not only for their
sake, but for our own sake also, and for the sake of the
honor of the country. Whatever we do will not be done in
a corner. Our constituents will see it ; the people will see
it ; tlie world will see it.

The bill is intended for those who, being in the army in
October, 1789, then received a solemn promise of half pay
for life, on condition that they would continue to serve
through the war. Their ground of merit is, that, when-
soever they joined the army, being thus solicited by their
country to remain in it, they at once went for the whole;
they fastened their fortunes to the standards which they bore,
and resolved to continue their military service till it should
terminate either in their country's success or in their own
death. This is their merit and their ground of claim. How
long they had been already in service, is immaterial and un-
important. They were then in service ; the salvation of
their country depended on their continuing in that service.

96 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Congress saw this imperative necessity, and earnestly solicit-
ed thern to remain, and promised the compensation. They
saw the necessity also, and they yielded to it.

I support the measure, then, Mr. President, because I
think it a proper and judicious exercise of well-merited
national bounty. I think, too, the general sentiment of my
own constituents, and of the country, is in favor of it. I
believe the member from North Carolina himself admitted,
that an increasing desire that something should be done for
the Revolutionary officers manifested itself in the commu-
nity. The bill will make no immediate or great draught
on the treasury. It will not derange the finances. If I had
supposed that the state of the treasury would have been
urged against the passage of this bill, I should not have
voted for the Delaware breakwater, because that might have
been commenced next year ; nor for the whole of the sums
which have been granted for fortifications ; for their ad-
vancement with a little more or a little less of rapidity is not
of the first necessity. But the present case is urgent.
What we do should be done quickly.

Mr. President, allow me to repeat, that neither the sub-
ject nor the occasion is an ordinary one. Our own fellow-
citizens do not so consider it ; the world will not so regard
it. A few deserving soldiers are before us, who served their
country faithfully through a seven years' war. That war
was a civil war. It was commenced on principle, and sus-
tained by every sacrifice, on the great ground of civil liberty.
They fought bravely, and bled freely. The cause succeeded,
and the country triumphed. But the condition of things did
not allow that country, sensible as it was to their services
and merits, to do them the full justice which it desired. It
could not entirely fulfil its engagements. The army was to
be disbanded ; but it was unpaid. It was to lay down its
own power ; but there was no government with adequate
power to perform what had been promised to it. In this
critical moment, what is its conduct 1 Does it disgrace its
high character 1 Is temptation able to seduce it 1 Does it
speak of righting itself? Does it undertake to redress its
own wrongs by its own sword ? Does it lose its patriotism

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 97

in its deep sense of injury and injustice ? Does military
ambition cause its integrity to swerve ? Far, far otherwise.

It had faithfully served and saved the country; and to
that country it now referred, with unhesitating confidence,
its claim and its complaints. It laid down its arms with
alacrity ; it mingled itself with the mass of the community ;
and it waited till, in better times, and under a new govern-
ment, its services might be rewarded, and the promises made
to it fulfilled. Sir, this example is worth more, far more, to
the cause of civil liberty, than this bill will cost us. We
can hardly recur to it too often, or dwell on it too much, for
the honor of our country and of its defenders. Allow me
to say, again, that meritorious service in civil war is wor-
thy of peculiar consideration ; not only because there is, in
such wars, usually less power to restrain irregularities, but
because, also, they expose all prominent actors in them to
different kinds of danger. It is rebellion as well as war.
Those who engage in it must look, not only to the dangers
of the field, but to confiscation also, and attainder, and igno-
minious death. With no efficient and settled government,
either to sustain or to control them, and with every sort of
danger before them, it is great merit to have conducted
themselves with fidelity to the country, under every dis-
couragement on the one hand, and with unconquerable
bravery towards the common enemy on the other. Such,
Sir, was the conduct of the officers and soldiers of the Rev-
olutionary army.

I would not, and do not, underrate the services or the suffer-
ings of others. I know well, that in the Revolutionary con-
test all made sacrifices, and all endured sufferings ; as well
those who paid for service, as those who performed it. 1
know that, in the records of all the little municipalities of New
England, abundant proof exists of the zeal with which the cause
was espoused, and the sacrifices with which it was cheerfully
maintained. I have often there read, with absolute astonish-
ment, of the taxes, the contributions, the heavy subscriptions,
sometimes provided for by disposing of the absolute neces-
saries of life, by which enhstments were procured, and food
and clothing furnished. It would be, Sir, to these same

98 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

municipalities, to these same little patriotic councils of Rev-
olutionary times, that I should now look, with most assured
confidence, for a hearty support of what this bill proposes.
There, the scale of Revolutionary merit stands high. There
are still those living who speak of the 19th of April, and the
17th of June, without thinking it necessary to add the year.
These men, one and all, would rejoice to find that tiiose
who stood by the country bravely, through the doubtful and
perilous struggle which conducted it to independence and
glory, had not been forgotten in the decline and close of
life.

The objects, then. Sir, of the proposed bounty, are most
worthy and deserving objects. The services which they
rendered were in the highest degree usefiil and important.
The country to which they rendered them is great and pros-
perous. They have lived to see it glorious ; let them not
live to see it unkind. For me, I can give them but my
vote and my prayers ; and I give them both with my whole
heart.

THE BOSTON MECHANICS' INSTITUTION.

Introductory Lecture, read at tJie Opening of the Course for the Season, on the 12fA of

J^Tovember, 1828.

I APPEAR before you, Gentlemen, for the performance of
a duty which is in so great a degree foreign from my
habitual studies and pursuits, that it may be presumptuous
in me to hope for a creditable execution of the task. But
I have not allowed considerations of this kind to weigh
against a strong and ardent desire to signify my approbation
of the objects, and my conviction of the utility, of this in-
stitution ; and to manifest my prompt attention to whatever
others may suppose to be in my power to promote its
respectability and to further its designs.

The constitution of the association declares its precise
object to be, " Mutual Instruction in the Sciences, as con-
nected with the Mechanic Arts."

The distinct purpose is to connect science more and more

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 99

with art ; to teach the estabhshed, and invent new, modes
of combining skill with strength ; to bring the power of the
human understanding in aid of the physical powers of the
human frame ; to facilitate the cooperation of the mind with
the hand; to promote convenience, lighten labor, and miti-
gate toil, by stretching the dominion of mind farther and
farther over the elements of nature, and by making those
elements themselves submit to human rule, follow human
bidding, and work together for human happiness.

The visible and tangible creation into which we are in-
troduced at our birth, is not, in all its parts, fixed and
stationary. Motion or change of place, regular or occa-
sional, belongs to all or most of the things which are around
us. Animal life every where moves ; the earth itself has its
motion, and its complexities of motion ; the ocean heaves
and subsides; rivers run, lingering or rushing, to the sea;
and the air which we breathe moves- and acts with mighty
power. Motion, thus pertaining to the physicial objects
which surround us, is the exhaustless fountain whence philos-
ophy draws the means by which, in various degrees and
endless forms, natural agencies and the tendencies of inert
matter are brought to the succor and assistance of human
strength. It is the object of mechanical contrivance to
modify motion, to produce it in new forms, to direct it to
new purposes, to multiply its uses, by its means to do better
that which human strength could do without its aid, and to
perform that, also, which such strength, unassisted by art,
could not perform.

Motion itself is but the result of force ; or, in other
words, force is defined to be whatever tends to produce
motion. The operation of forces, therefore, on bodies, is
the broad field which is open for that philosophical examina-
tion, the results of which it is the business of mechanical
contrivance to apply. The leading forces or sources of
motion are, as is well known, the power of animals, gravity,
heat, the winds, and water. There are various others of
less power, or of more difficult apphcation. Mechanical
philosophy, therefore, may be said to be that science which
instructs us in the knowledge of natural moving powers,

100 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

animate or inanimate ; in the manner of modifying those
powers, and of increasing the intensity of some of them by
artificial means, such as heat and electricity ; and in apply-
ing the varieties of force and motion, thus derived from
natural agencies, to the arts of life. This is the object of
mechanical philosophy. None can doubt, certainly, the high
importance of tJiis sort of knowledge, or fail to see how
suitable it is to the elevated rank and the dignity of reason-
ing beings. Man's grand distinction is his intellect, his
mental capacity. It is this which renders him highly and
peculiarly responsible to his Creator. It is on account of
this, that the rule over other animals is established in his
hands ; and it is this, mainly, which enables him to exercise
dominion over the powers of nature, and to subdue them to
himself.

But it is true, also, that his own animal organization gives
him superiority, and is among the most wonderful of the
works of God on earth. It contributes to cause, as well as
prove, his elevated rank in creation. His port is erect, his
face toward heaven, and he is furnished with limbs which
are not absolutely necessary to his support or locomotion,
and which are at once powerful, flexible, capable of innu-
merable modes and varieties of action, and terminated by
an instrument of wonderful, heavenly workmanship — tlie
human hand. This marvellous physical conformation gives
man the power of acting with great effect upon external
objects, in pursuance of the suggestions of his understand-
ing, and of applying the results of his reasoning power to
his own purposes. Without this particular formation, he
would not be man, with whatever sagacity he might have
been endowed. No bounteous grant of intellect, »were it
the pleasure of Heaven to make such grant, could raise
any of the brute creation to an equality with the human
race. Were it bestowed on the leviathan, he must remain,
nevertheless, in the element where alone he could maintain
liis physical existence. He would still be but the inelegant,
misshapen inhabitant of the ocean, " wallowing unwieldy,
enormous in his gait." Were the elephant made to possess
it, it would but teach him the deformity of his own struc-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 101

ture, the unsightliness of his frame, though " the hugest of
things," his disabihty to act on external matter, and the de-
grading nature of his own pliysical wants, which lead him to
the deserts, and give him for his favorite home the torrid
plains of the tropics. It was placing the king of Babylon
sufficiently out of the rank of human beings, though he car-
ried all his reasoning faculties with him, when he was sent
away to eat grass like an ox. And this may properly sug-
gest to our consideration, what is undeniably true, that there
is hardly a greater blessing conferred on man than his nat-
ural wants. If he had wanted no more than the beasts, who
can say how much more than they he would have attained ?
Does he associate, does he cultivate, does he build, does he
navigate 1 The original impulse to all these lies in his wants.
It proceeds from the necessities of his condition, and from
the efforts of unsatisfied desire. Every want, not of a low
kind, physical as well as moral, which the human breast
feels, and which brutes do not feel and cannot feel, raises
man by so much in the scale of existence, and is a clear
proof and a direct instance of the favor of God towards his
so much favored human offspring. If man had been so
made as to desire nothing, he would have wanted almost
every thing worth possessing.

But doubtless the reasoning faculty, the mind, is the lead-
ing and characteristic attribute of the human race. By the
exercise of this, man arrives at the knowledge of the prop-
erties of natural bodies. This is science, properly and
emphatically so called. It is the science of pure mathe-
matics ; and in the high branches of this science lies the true
sublime of human acquisition. If any attainment deserve
that epithet, it is the knowledge, which, from the mensuration
of the minutest dust of the balance, proceeds on the rising
scale of material bodies, every where weighing, every where
measuring, every where detecting and explaining the laws of
force and motion, penetrating into the secret principles which
hold the universe of God together, and balancing world
against world, and system against system. When we seek to
accompany those who pursue studies at once so high, so vast,
and so exact ; when we arrive at the discoveries of Newton,

102 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

which pour in day on the works of God, as if a second ^at
for light had gone forth from his own mouth ; when, further,
we attempt to follow those who set out where Newton
paused, making his goal their starting-place, and, proceed-
ing with demonstration upon demonstration, and discovery
upon discovery, bring new worlds and new systems of
worlds within the limits of the known universe, failing to
learn all only because all is infinite ; however we say of
man, in admiration of his physical structure, that " in form
and moving he is express and admirable," it is here, and
here without irreverence, we may exclaim, " in apprehen-
sion how like a god ! " The study of the pure mathe-
matics will of course not be extensively pursued in an in-
stitution, which, like this, has a direct practical tendency and
aim. But it is still to be remembered, that pure mathe-
matics lie at the foundation of mechanical philosophy, and
that it is ignorance only which can speak or think of that
sublime science as useless research or barren speculation.

But if the history of the progress of the mechanical arts
be interesting, still more so, doubtless, would be the exhibi-
tion of their present state, and a full display of the extent
to which they are now carried. This field is much too wide
to be entered on this occasion. The briefest outline even
would exceed its limits ; and the whole subject will regu-
larly fall to hands much more able to sustain it. The
slightest glance, however, must convince us that mechanical
power and mechanical skill, as they are now exhibited in
Europe and America, mark an epoch in human history
worthy of all admiration. Machinery is made to perform
what has formerly been the toil of human hands, to an ex-
tent that astonishes the most sanguine, with a degree of
power to which no number of human arms is equal, and
with such precision and exactness as almost to suggest the
notion of reason and intelligence in the machines them-
selves. Every natural agent is put unrelentingly to the
task. The winds work, the waters work, the elasticity of
metals works ; gravity is solicited into a thousand new forms
of action ; levers are multiplied upon levers ; wheels revolve
on the peripheries of other wheels ; the saw and the plane

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 103

are tortured into an accommodation to new uses, and, last
of all, with inimitable power, and " with whirlwind sound,"
conies the potent agency of steam. In comparison with
the past, what centuries of improvement has this single
agent comprised, in the short compass of fifty years !
Every where practicable, every where efficient, it has an
arm a thousand times stronger than that of Hercules, and to
which human ingenuity is capable of fitting a thousand
times as many hands as belonged to Briareus. Steam is
found in triumphant operation on the seas ; and under the
influence of its strong propulsion, the gallant ship, —

" Against the wind, against the tide,
Still steadies, with an upright keel."

It is on the rivers, and the boatman may repose on his oars ;
it is on highways, and begins to exert itself along the courses
of land conveyance ; it is at the bottom of mines, a thou-
sand feet below the earth's surface ; it is in the mill, and in
the workshops of the trades. It rows, it pumps, it exca-
vates, it carries, it draws, it lifts, it hammers, it spins, it
weaves, it prints. It seems to say to men, at least to the
class of artisans, *' Leave off your manual labor, give over
your bodily toil ; bestow but your skill and reason to the
directing of my power, and I will bear the toil — with no
muscle to grow weary, no nerve to relax, no breast to feel
faintness." What further improvements may still be made
in the use of this astonishing power, it is impossible to
know, and it were vain to conjecture. What we do know
is, that it has most essentially altered the face of affairs, and
that no visible limit yet appears, beyond which its progress
is seen to be impossible. If its power were now to be an-
nihilated, if we were to miss it on the water and in the
mills, it would seem as if we were agoing back to rude ages.
New taste and a new excitement are evidently springing
up in our vicinity in regard to an art, which, as it unites in
a singular degree utility and beauty, affbrds inviting en-
couragements to genius and skill. I mean Architecture.
Architecture is military, naval, sacred, civil, or domestic.
Naval architecture, certainly, is of the highest importance to

104 CONSTITUTIONAL. TEXT BOOK.

a commercial and navigating people, to say nothing of its
intimate and essential connection with the means of national
defence. This science should not be regarded as having
already reached its utmost perfection. It seems to have
been for some time in a course of rapid advancement. The
building, the rigging, the navigating of ships, have, within
the knowledge of every one, been subjects of great im-
provement within the last fifteen years. And where, rather
than in New England, may still further improvements be
looked for ? Where is ship building either a greater busi-
ness, or pursued with more skill and eagerness 1

In civil, sacred, and domestic architecture, present ap-
pearances authorize the strongest hopes of improvement.
These hopes rest, among other things, on unambiguous indi-
cations of the growing prevalence of a just taste. The
principles of architecture are founded in nature, or good
sense, as much as the principles of epic poetry. This art
constitutes a beautiful medium between what belongs to
mere fancy and what belongs entirely to the exact sciences.
In its forms and modifications it admits of infinite variation,
giving broad room for invention and genius ; while, in its
general principles, it is founded on that which long expe-
rience and the concurrent judgment of ages have ascertained
to be generally pleasing. Certain relations of parts to parts
have been satisfactory to all the cultivated generations of
men. These relations constitute what is called proportion^
and this is the great basis of architectural art. This estab-
lished proportion is not to be followed merely because it is
ancient, but because its use, and the pleasure which it has
been found capable of giving to the mind, through the eye,
in ancient times, and modern times, and all civilized times,
prove that its principles are well founded and just ; in the
same manner that the Ili^id is proved, by the consent of all
ages, to be a good poem.

Architecture, I have said, is an art that unites in a singu
lar manner the useful and the beautiful. It is not to be in-
ferred from this that every thing in architecture is beautiful,
or is to be so esteemed, in exact proportion to its apparent
utility. No more is meant, than that nothing which evi-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 105

dently thwarts utility can or ought to be accounted beautiful ;
because, in every work of art, the design is to be regarded,
and what defeats that design cannot be considered as well
done. The French rhetoricians have a maxim, that, in lit-
erary composition, "nothing is beautiful which is not true."
They do not intend to say, that strict and literal truth is
alone beautiful in poetry or oratory ; but they mean, that
that which grossly offends against probability^ is not in good
taste in either. The same relation subsists between beauty
and utility in architecture as between truth and imagination in
poetry. Utility is not to be obviously sacrificed to beauty,
in the one case ; truth and probability are not to be out-
raged for the cause of fiction and fancy, in the other. In
the severer styles of architecture, beauty and utility approach
so as to be almost identical. Where utility is more espe-
cially the main design, the proportions which produce it
raise the sense or feeling of beauty, by a sort of reflection
or deduction of the mind. It is said that ancient Rome had
perhaps no finer specimens of the classic Doric than the
sewers which ran under her streets, and which were of
course always to be covered from human observation ; so
true is it, that cultivated taste is always pleased with justness
of proportion ; and that design, seen to be accomplished,
gives pleasure. The discovery and fast-increasing use of a
noble material, found in vast abundance nearer to our city
than the Pentelican quarries to Athens, may well awaken, as
they do, new attention to architectural improvement. If
this material be not entirely well suited to the elegant Ionic
or the rich Corinthitm, it is yet fitted, beyond marble, be-
yond perhaps almost any other material, for the Doric, of
which the appropriate character is strength, and for the
Gothic, of which the appropriate character is grandeur.

It is not more than justice, perhaps, to our ancestors, to
call the Gothic the English classic architecture ; for in Eng-
land, probably, are its most distinguished specimens. As its
leading characteristic is grandeur, its main use would seem
to be sacred. It had its origin, indeed, in ecclesiastical
architecture. Its evident design was to surpass the ancient
orders by the size of the structure and its far gkeater

106 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

heights; to excite perceptions of beauty by the branching
traceries and the gorgeous tabernacles within ; and to in-
spire rehgious awe and reverence by the lofty pointed arches,
the flying buttresses, the spires, and the pinnacles, springing
from beneath, and stretching upwards towards the heavens
with the prayers of the worshippers. Architectural beauty
having always a direct reference to utility, edifices, whether
civil or sacred, must of course undergo different changes, in
different places, on account of climate, and in different ages,
on account of the different states of other arts or different
notions of convenience. The hypethral temple, for exam-
ple, or temple without a roof, is not to be thought of in our
latitude ; and the use of glass, a thing not now to be dis-
pensed with, is also to be accommodated, as well as it may
be, to the architectural structure. These necessary varia-
tions, and many more admissible ones, give room for
improvements to an indefinite extent, without departing
from the principles of true taste. May we not hope, then,
to see our own city celebrated as the city of architectural
excellence ? May we not hope to see our native granite
reposing in the ever-during strength of the Doric, or spring-
ing up in the grand and lofty Gothic, in forms which beauty
and utility, the eye and the judgment, taste and devotion,
shall unite to approve and to admire ? But while we regard
sacred and civil architecture as highly important, let us not
forget that other branch, so essential to personal comfort
and happiness — domestic architecture, or common house
building. In ancient times, in all governments, and under
despotic governments in all times, the convenience or grati-
fication of the monarch, the government, or the public has
been allowed too often to put aside considerations of per-
sonal and individual happiness. With us, different ideas
happily prevail. AVith us, it is not the pubhc, or the gov-
ernment, in its corporate character, that is the only object
of regard. The public happiness is to be the aggregate of
the happiness of individuals. Our system begins with the
individual man. It begins with him when he leaves the
cradle ; and it proposes to instruct him in knowledge and in
morals, to prepare him for his state of manhood ; on his

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 107

arrival at that state, to invest him vt^ith political rights, to
protect him in his property and pursuits, and in his family
and social connections ; and thus to enable him to enjoy,
as an individual moral and rational being, what belongs
to a moral and rational being. For the same reason,
the arts are to be promoted for their general utility, as
they affect the personal happiness and well being of the indi-
viduals who compose the community. It would be adverse
to the whole spirit of our system, that we should have gor-
geous and expensive public buildings, if individuals were at
the same time to live in houses of mud. Our public edi-
fices are to be reared by the surplus of wealth and the sav-
ings of labor, after the necessities and comforts of individ-
uals are provided for ; and not, like the Pyramids, by the
unremitted toil of thousands of half-starved slaves. Domes-
tic architecture, therefore, as connected with individual com-
fort and happiness, is to hold a first place in the esteem of
our artists. Let our citizens have houses cheap, but com-
fortable ; not gaudy, but in good taste ; not judged by the
portion of earth they cover, but by their symmetry, their fit-
ness for use, and their durability.

Without further reference to particular arts with which
the objects of this society have a close connection, it may
yet be added, generally, that this is a period of great activ-
ity, of industry, of enterprise in the various walks of life.
It is a period, too, of growing wealth and increasing pros-
perity. It is a time when men are fast multiplying, but
when means are increasing still faster than men. An
auspicious moment, then, it is, full of motive and encourage-
ment, for the vigorous prosecution of those inquiries which
have for their object the discovery of further and further
means of uniting the results of scientific research to the arts
and business of life.

108 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

SPEECH ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION.

Delivered in the Senate of the United States on the 26th of January, ]830.

On the 29th of December, 1829, a resolution was moved by Mr. Foot,
one of the Senators from Connecticut. On the 18th of January, Mr.
Benton, of Missouri, addressed the Senate on the subject of the resolu-
tion. On the 19th, Mr. Hayne, of South Carolina, spoke at considera-
ble length. After he had concluded, Mr. Webster rose to reply, but
gave way on motion of Mr. Benton for an adjournment. On the 20th
Mr. Webster spoke, and having concluded his first speech, Mr. Benton
spoke in reply, on the 20th and 21st of January, 1830. Mr. Hayne, of
South Carolina, followed on the same side, and on Monday, the 25th,
concluded his argument. The next day (26th January, 1830) Mr.
Webster took the floor.

Mr. President, — When the mariner has been tossed for
many days in thick weather, and on an unknown sea, he
naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the
earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude, and ascertain
how far the elements have driven him from his true course.
Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on
the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we
departed, that we may at least be. able to conjecture where
we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolution before
the Senate.

The Secretary read the resolution, as follows : —

" Resolved, That the Committee on Public Lands be instructed to
inquire and report the quantity of public lands remaining unsold within
each State and Territory, and whether it be expedient to limit for a cer-
tain period the sales of the public lands to such lands only as have
heretofore been offered for sale, and are now subject to entry at the min-
imum price. And, also, whether the office of Surveyor General, and
some of the land offices, may not be abolished without detriment to the
public interest ; or whether it be expedient to adopt measures to hasten
the sales and extend more rapidly the surveys of the public lands."

We have thus heard, Sir, what the resolution is which is
actually before us for consideration; and it will readily
occur to every one, that it is almost the only subject about
which something has not been said in the speech, running

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 109

through two days, by which the Senate has been entertained
by the gentleman from South CaroHna. Every topic in the
wide range of our pubhc affairs, whether past or present, —
every thing, general or local, whether belonging to national
politics or party politics, — seems to have attracted more or
less of the honorable member's attention, save only the res-
olution before the Senate. He has spoken of every thing
but the public lands ; they have escaped his notice. To
that subject, in all his excursions, he has not paid even the
, cold respect of a passing glance.

When this debate. Sir, was to be resumed, on Thursday
morning, it so happened that it would have been convenient
for me to be elsewhere. The honorable member, however,
did not incline to put off the discussion to another day. He
had a shot, he said, to return, and he wished to discharge it.
That shot. Sir, which he thus kindly informed us was com-
ing, that we might stand out of the way, or prepare our-
selves to fall by it and die with decency, has now been re-
ceived. Under all advantages, and with expectation awa-
kened by the tone which preceded it, it has been discharged,
and has spent its force. It may become me to say no more
of its effect, than that, if nobody is found, after all, either
killed or wounded, it is not the first time, in the history of
human affairs, that the vigor and success of the war have
not quite come up to the lofty and sounding phrase of the
manifesto.

The gentleman. Sir, in declining to postpone the debate,
told the Senate, with the emphasis of his hand upon his
heart, that there was something rankling here^ which he
wished to relieve. [Mr. Hayne rose, and disclaimed having
used the word rankling.'] It would not, Mr. President, be
safe for the honorable member to appeal to those around
him, upon the question whether he did in fact make use of
that word. But he may have been unconscious of it. At
any rate, it is enough that he disclaims it. But still, with or
without the use of that particular word, he had yet some-
thing Acre, he said, of which he wished to rid himself by an
immediate reply. In this respect, Sir, I have a great advan-
tage over the honorable gentleman. There is nothing Acre,

110 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Sir, which gives me the slightest uneasiness.; neither fear,
nor anger, nor that which is sometimes more troublesome
than either, the consciousness of having been in the wrong.
There is nothing, either originating here^ or now received
here by the gentleman's shot. Nothing originating here, for
I had not the slightest feeling of unkindness towards the
honorable member. Some passages, it is true, had occurred
since our acquaintance in this body, which I could have
wished might have been otherwise ; but I had used philoso-
phy and forgotten them. I paid the honorable member the ,
attention of listening with respect to his first speech ; and
when he sat down, though surprised, and I must even say
astonished, at some of his opinions, nothing was farther from
my intention than to commence any personal warfare.
Through the whole of the few remarks I made in answer, I
avoided, studiously and carefully, every thing which I thought
possible to be construed into disrespect. And, Sir, while
there is thus nothing originating here which I have wished at
any time, or now wish, to discharge, I must repeat, also,
that nothing has been received here which rankles^ or in any
way gives me annoyance. I will not accuse the honorable
member of violating the rules of civilized war; I will not
say, that he poisoned his arrows. But whether his shafts
were, or were not, dipped in that which would have caused
rankling if they had reached their destination, there was not,
as it happened, quite strength enough in the bow to bring
them to their mark. If he wishes now to gather up those
shafts, he must look for them elsewhere ; they will not be
found fixed and quivering in the object at which they were
aimed.

The honorable member complained that I had slept on
his speech. I must have slept on it, or not slept at all.
The moment the honorable member sat down, his friend
from Missouri rose, and, with much honeyed commendation
of the speech, suggested that the impressions which it had
produced were too charming and delightful to be disturbed
by other sentiments or other sounds, and proposed that the
Senate should adjourn. Would it have been quite amiable
in me, Sir, to interrupt this excellent good feeling ? Must

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. Ill

I not have been absolutely malicious, if I could have thrust
myself forward, to destroy sensations thus pleasing? Was
it not much better and kinder, both to sleep upon them my-
self, and to allow others also the pleasure of sleeping upon
them ? But if it be meant, by sleeping upon his speech,
that I took time to prepare a reply to it, it is quite a mis-
take. Owing to other engagements, I could not employ
even the interval between the adjournment of the Senate and
its meeting the next morning, in attention to the subject of
this debate. Nevertheless, Sir, the mere matter of fact is
undoubtedly true. I did sleep on the gentleman's speech,
and slept soundly. And I slept equally well on his speech
of yesterday, to which I am now replying. It is quite pos-
sible that in this respect, also, I possess some advantage over
the honorable member, attributable, doubtless, to a cooler
temperament on my part ; for, in truth, I slept upon his
speeches remarkably well.

But the gentleman inquires why he was made the object
of such a reply. Why was he singled out 1 If an attack
has been made on the East, he, he assures us, did not begin
it; it Was made by the gentleman from Missouri. Sir, I
answered the gentleman's speech because I happened to
hear it ; and because, also, I chose to give an answer to that
speech, which, if unanswered, I thought most likely to pro-
duce injurious impressions. I did not stop to inquire who
was tlie original drawer of the bill. I found a res])onsibIe
indorser before me, and it was my purpose to hold him lia-
ble, and to bring him to his just responsibility, without de-
lay. But, Sir, this interrogatory of the honorable member
was only introductory to another. He proceeded to ask me
whether I had turned upon him, in this debate, from the con-
sciousness that I should find an overmatch, if I ventured on
a contest with his friend from Missouri. If, Sir, the honor-
able member, modesticB gratia, had chosen thus to defer to
his friend, and to pay him a compliment, without intentional
disparagement to others, it would have been quite according
to the friendly courtesies of debate, and not at all ungrate-
ful to my own feelings. I am not one of those, Sir, who
esteem any tribute of regard, whether hght and occasional,

112 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

or more serious and deliberate, which may be bestowed on
others, as so much unjustly withholden from themselves.
But the tone and manner of the gentleman's question forbid
me thus to interpret it. I am not at hberty to consider it as
nothing more than a civility to his friend. It had an air of
taunt and disparagement, something of the loftiness of assert-
ed superiority, whicli does not allow me to pass it over with-
out notice. It was put as a question for me to answer, and
so put as if it were difficult for me to answer, whether I
deemed the member from Missouri an overmatch for myself,
in debate here. It seems to me. Sir, that this is extraordi-
nary language, and an extraordinary tone, for the discus-
sions of this body.

Matches and overmatches ! Those terms are more appli-
cable elsewhere than here, and fitter for other assemblies
than this. Sir, the gentleman seems to forget where and
what we are. This is a Senate, a Senate of equals, of men
of individual honor and personal character, and of absolute
independence. We know no masters, we acknowledge no
dictators. Tiiis is a hall for mutual consultation and discus-
sion; not an arena for the exhibition of champions. I offer
myself. Sir, as a match for no man ; I throw the challenge
of debate at no man's feet. But then, Sir, since the honor-
able member has put the question in a manner that calls for
an answer, I will give him an answer ; and I tell him, that,
holding myself to be the humblest of the members here, I
yet know nothing in the arm of his friend from Missouri,
either alone or when aided by the arm of his friend from
South Carolina, that need deter even me from espousing
whatever opinions I may choose to espouse, from debating
whenever 1 may choose to debate, or from speaking what-
ever I may see fit to say, on the floor of the Senate. Sir,
when uttered as matter of commendation or compliment, I
should dissent from nothing which the honorable member
might say of his friend. Still less do I put forth any pre*
tensions of my own. But when put to me as matter of
taunt, I throw it back, and say to the gentleman, that he
could possibly say nothing less likely than such a compari-
son to wound my pride of personal character. The anger

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 113

of its tone rescued the remark from intentional irony, which
otherwise, probably, would have been its general accepta-
tion. But, Sir, if it be imaj^ined that by this mutual quota-
tion and commendation ; if it be supposed that, by casting
the characters of the drama, assigning to each his part, to
one the attack, to another the cry of onset ; or if it be
thought that, by a loud and empty vaunt of anticipated vic-
tory, any laurels are to be won here ; if it be imagined,
especially, that any, or all these things will shake any pur-
pose of mine, I can tell the honorable member, once for all,
that he is greatly mistaken, and that he is dealing with one
of whose temper and character he has yet much -to learn.
Sir, I shall not allow myself, on this occasion, I hope on no
occasion, to be betrayed into any loss of temper; but if
provoked, as I trust I never shall be, into crimination and
recrimination, the honorable member may perhaps find that,
in that contest, there will be blows to take as well as blows
to give; that others can state comparisons as significant, at
least, as his own, and that his impunity may possibly demand
of him whatever powers of taunt and sarcasm he may pos-
sess. I commend him to a prudent husbandry of his re-
sources.

The real question between me and him is, Has the doc-
trine been advanced at the South or the East, that the
population of the West should be retarded, or at least need
not be hastened, on account of its effect to drain off the
people from the Atlantic States ? Is this doctrine, as has
been alleged, of Eastern origin ? That is the question.
Has the gentleman found any thing by which he can make
good his accusation 1 I submit to the Senate, that he has
entirely failed ; and, as far as this debate has shown, the only
person who has advanced such sentiments is a gentleman
from South Carolina, and a friend of the honorable member
himself. The honorable gentleman has given no answer
to this ; there is none which can be given. The simple fact,
while it requires no comment to enforce it, defies all argu-
ment to refute it. I could refer to the speeches of anotfier
Southern gentleman, in years before, of the same general
character, and to the same effect, as that which has been
8

114 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

quoted ; but I will not consume the time of the Senate by
the reading of them.

So then, Sir, New England is guiltless of the policy of
retarding Western population, and of all envy and jealousy
of the growth of the new States. Whatever there be of that
policy in the country, no part of it is hers. If it has a local
habitation, the honorable member has probably seen by this
time where to look for it ; and if it now has received a name,
he has himself christened it.

We approach, at length, Sir, to a more important part
of the honorable gentleman's observations. Since it does
not accord with my views of justice and policy to give away
the public lands altogether, as a mere matter of gratuity, I
am asked by the honorable gentleman on what ground it is
that I consent to vote them away in particular instances.
How, he inquires, do I reconcile with these professed senti-
ments, my support of measures appropriating portions of
the lands to particular roads, particular canals, particular
rivers, and particular institutions of education in the West ?
This leads, Sir, to the real and wide difference in political
opinion between the honorable gentleman and myself. On
my part, I look upon all these objects as connected with the
common good, fairly embraced in its object and its terms ;
he, on the contrary, deems them all, if good at all, only
local good. This is our difference. The interrogatory
which he proceeded to put, at once explains this difference.
" What interest," asks he, *' has South Carolina in a
canal in Ohio 1 " Sir, this very question is full of signifi-
cance. It develops the gentleman's whole political system ;
and its answer expounds mine. Here we differ. I look
upon a road over the Alleghanies, a canal round the falls of
the Ohio, or a canal or railway from the Atlantic to the West-
ern waters, as being an object large and extensive enough
to be fairly said to be for the common benefit. The gentle-
man thinks otherwise, and this is the key to his construction
of the powers of the government. He may well ask what
interest has South Carolina in a canal in Ohio. On his
system, it is true, she has no interest. On that system Ohio
and Carolina are different governments, and different coun-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 115

tries ; connected here, it is true, by some slight and ill-
deiined bond of union, but in all main respects separate and
diverse. On that system, Carolina has no more interest in
a canal in Ohio than in Mexico. The gentleman, therefore,
only follows out his own principles; he does no more than
arrive at the natural conclusions of his own doctrines; he
only announces the true results of that creed which he has
adopted himself, and would persuade others to adopt, when
he thus declares that South Carolina has no interest in a
public work in Ohio.

Sir, we narrow-minded people of New England do not
reason thus. Our notion of tilings is entirely ditlerent. We
look upon the States, not as separated, but as united. We
love to dwell on that union, and on the mutual happiness
which it has so much promoted, and the common renown
which it has so greatly contributed to acquire. In our con-
templation, Carolina and Ohio are parts of the same country;
States, united under the same general government, having
interests, common, associated, intermingled. In whatever is
within the proper sphere of the constitutional power of this
government, we look upon the States as one. We do not
impose geographical limits to our patriotic feeling or regard;
we do not follow rivers and mountains, and lines of latitude,
to find boundaries, beyond which public improvements do
not benefit us. We who come here, as agents and representa-
tives of these narrow-minded and selfish men of New England,
consider ourselves as bound to regard with an equal eye the
good of the whole, in whatever is within our powers of legis-
lation. Sir, if a railroad or canal, beginning in South Carolina
and ending in South Carolina, appeared to me to be of
national importance and national magnitude, believing, as I
do, that the power of government extends to the encouragement
of works of that description, if I were to stand up here anc/
ask. What interest has Massachusetts in a railroad in South
Carolina ? I should not be willing to face my constituents.
These same narrow-minded men would tell me, that they
iiad sent me to act for the whole country, and that one who
possessed too little comprehension, either of intellect or
feeling, one who was not large enough, both in mind and in

116 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

heart, to embrace the whole, was not fit to be intrusted with
the interest of any part.

Sir, I do not desire to enlarge the powers of the govern-
ment by unjustifiable construction, nor to exercise any not
within a fair interpretation. But when it is believed that a
power does exist, then it is, in my judgment, to be exercised
for the general benefit of the whole. So far as respects the
exercise of such a power, the States are one. It was the
very object of the Constitution to create unity of interests
to the extent of the powers of the general government. In
war and peace we are one ; in commerce, one ; because
the authority of the general government reaches to war and
peace, and to the regulation of commerce. I have never
seen any more difficuhy in erecting lighthouses on the lakes,
than on the ocean ; in improving the harbors of inland seas,
than if they were within the ebb and flow of the tide ; or
in removing obstructions in the vast streams of the West,
more than in any work to facilitate commerce on the Atlan-
tic coast. If there be any power for one, there is power
also for the other ; and they are all and equally for the
common good of the country.

Mr. President, I shall not, it will not, I trust, be expect-
ed that I should, either now or at any time, separate this
farrago into parts, and answer and examine its components.
I shall barely bestow upon it all a general remark or two.
In the run of forty years. Sir, under this Constitution, we
have experienced sundry successive violent party contests.
Party arose, indeed, with the Constitution itself, and, in
some form or other, has attended it through the greater part
of its history. Whether any other constitution than the old
Articles of Confederation was desirable, was itself a question
on which parties divided ; if a new constitution were framed,
what powers should be given to it was another question ;
and when it had been formed, what was, in fact, the just
extent of the powers actually conferred was a third. Par-
ties, as we know, existed rfnder the first administration, as
distinctly marked as those vs^hich have manifested themselves
at any subsequent period. The contest immediately pre-
ceding the political change in 1801, and that, again, which

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 117

existed at the commencement of the late war, are other in-
stances of party excitement, of something more than usual
strenf^th and intensity. In all these conflicts there was, no
doubt, much of violence on both and all sides. It wooid
be impossible, if one had a fancy for such employment, to
adjust the relative quantum of violence between these con-
tending parties. There was enough in each, as must always
be expected in popular gov^ernments. With a great deal of
popular and decorous discussion, there was mingled a great
deal, also, of declamation, virulence, crimination, and abuse.
In regard to any party, probably, at one of the leading
epochs in the history of parties, enough may be found to
make out another inflamed exhibition, not unlike that with
which the honorable member has edified us. For niyself.
Sir, I shall not rake among the rubbish of by-gone times, to
see what I can find, or whether I cannot find something by
which I can fix a blot on the escutcheon of any State, any
party, or any part of the country. General Washington's
administration was steadily and zealously maintained, as we
all know, by New England. It was violently opposed else-
where. We know in what quarter he had the most earnest,
constant, and persevering support, in all his great and lead-
ing measures. We know where his private and personal
character was held in the highest degree of attachment and
veneration ; and we know, too, where his measures were
opposed, his services slighted, and his character vilified.
We know, or we might know, if we turned to the journals,
who expressed respect, gratitude, and regret, when he retired
from the chief magistracy, and who refused to express either
respect, gratitude, or regret. I shall not open those jour-
nals. Publications more abusive or scurrilous never saw
the light, than were sent forth against Washington, and all
his leading measures, from presses south of New England.
But I shall not look them up. I employ no scavengers,
no one is in attendance on me, furnishing such means of
retaliation ; and if there were, with an ass's load of them,
with a bulk as huge as that which the gentleman himself
lias produced, I would not touch one of them. I see
enough of the violence of our own times, to be no. wav

118 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

anxious to rescue from forgetfulness the extravagances of
times past.

Besides, what is all this to the present purpose 1 It has
nothing to do with the public lands, in regard to which the
attack was begun ; and it has nothing to do with those sen-
timents and opinions which, I have thought, tend to disunion,
and all of which the honorable member seems to have
adopted himself, and undertaken to defend. New England
has, at times, so argues the gentleman, held opinions as
dangerous as those which he now holds. Suppose this were
so ; why should he therefore abuse New England ? If he
finds himself countenanced by acts of hers, how is it that,
while he relies on these acts, he covers, or seeks to cover,
their authors with reproach ? But, Sir, if, in the course of
forty years, there have been undue effervescences of party
in New England, has the same thing happened nowhere
else 1 Party animosity and party outrage, not in New
England, but elsewhere, denounced President Washington,
not only as a Federalist, but as a Tory, a British agent, a
man who in his high office sanctioned corruption. But does
the honorable member suppose, if I had a tender here who
should put such an effusion of wickedness and folly into my
hand, that I would, stand up and read it against the South ?
Parties ran into great heats again in 1799 and 1800. What
was said. Sir, or rather what was not said, in those years,
against John Adams, one of the committee that drafted the
Declaration of Independence, and its admitted ablest de-
fender on the floor of Congress ? If the gentleman wishes
to increase his stores of party abuse and frothy violence, if
he has a determined proclivity to such pursuits, there are
treasures of that sort south of the Potomac, much to his
taste, yet untouched. I shall not touch them.

The parties which divided the country at the commence-
ment of the late war were violent. But then there was
violence on both sides and in 'every State. Minorities and
majorities were equally violent. There was no more vio-
lence against the war in New England, than in other States;
nor any more appearance of violence, except that, owing to
a dense j:iopulation, greater facility of assembling, and more

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER.

119

presses, there may have been more in quantity spoken and
printed tliere than in some other places. In the article of
sermons, too. New England is somewhat more abundant
than South Carolina ; and for that reason the chance of
finding here and there an exceptionable one may be greater.
I hope, too, there are more good ones. Opposition may
have been more formidable in New England, as it embraced
a larger portion of the whole population ; but it was no
more unrestrained in principle, or violent in manner. The
minorities dealt quite as harshly with their own State gov-
ernments as the majorities dealt with the administration
here. There were presses on both sides, popular meetings
on both sides, ay, and pulpits on both sides also. The gen-
tleman's purveyors have only catered for him among the
productions of one side. I certainly shall not supply the
deficiency by furnishing examples of the other. I leave to
him, and to them, the whole concern.

It is enough for me to say, that if, in any part of this
their grateful occupation, if, in all their researches, they
find any thing in the history of Massachusetts, or New Eng-
land, or in the proceedings of any legislative or other public
body, disloyal to the Union, speaking slightingly of its value,
proposing to break it up, or recommending non-intercourse
with neighboring States on account of difference of political
opinion, then. Sir, I give them all up to the honorable gen-
tleman's unrestrained rebuke ; expecting, however, that he
will extend his buffetings in like manner to all similar pro-
ceedings,, wherever else found.

Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections ; let me indulge
in refreshing remembrance of the past ; let me remind you
that, in early times, no States cherished greater harmony,
both of principle and feeUng, than Massachusetts and South
Carolina. Would to God that harmony might again return !
Shoulder to shoulder they went through the Revolution,
hand in hand they stood round the administration of Wash-
ington, and felt his own great arm lean on them for support.
Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation, and distrust are the
growth, unnatural to such soils, of false principles since
sown. They are weeds, the seeds of which that same great
arm never scattered.

120 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Mr. President, I shall enter on no encomium upon Massa-
chusetts ; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and
judge for yourselves. There is her history ; the world knows
It by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston,
and Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker Hill ; and there
they will remain for ever. The bones of her sons, falUng in
the great struggle for Independence, now lie mingled with the
soil of every State from New England to Georgia ; and there
they will he for ever. And Sir, where American Liberty
raised its first voice, and where its youth was nurtured and
sustained, there it still lives, in thp strength of its manhood,
and full of its original spirit. If discord and disunion shall
wound it, if party strife and blind ambition shall hawk at and
tear it, if folly and madness, if uneasiness under salutary and
necessary restraint, shall succeed in separating it from that
Union, by which alone its existence is made sure, it will stand,
in the end, by the side of that cradle in which its infancy was
rocked ; it will stretch forth its arm with whatever vigor
it may still retain over the friends who gather round it ;
and it will fall at last, if fall it must, amidst the proudest
monuments of its own glory, and on the very spot of its
origin.

I must now beg to ask. Sir, Whence is this supposed
right of the States derived 1 Where do they find the power
to interfere with the laws of the Union 1 Sir, the opinion
which the honorable gentleman maintains is a notion found-
ed in a total misapprehension, in my judgment, of the origin
of this government, and of the foundation on which it stands.
I hold it to be a popular government, erected by the peo-
ple ; those who administer it, responsible to the people ;
and itself capable of being amended and modified, just as
the people may choose it should be. It is as popular, just
as truly emanating from the people, as the State govern-
ments. It is created for one purpose ; the State govern-
ments for another. It has its own powers ; they have theirs.
There is no more authority with them to arrest the opera-
tion of a law of Congress, than with Congress to arrest the
operation of their laws. We are here to administer a Con-
stitution emanating immediately from the people, and trusted

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 121

by them to our administration. It is not the creature of the
State governments. It is of no moment to the argument,
that certain acts of the State legislature are necessary to fill
our seats in this body. That is not one of their original
State powers, a part of the sovereignty of the State. It is
a duty which the people, by the Constitution itself, have im-
posed on the State legislatures; and which they might have
left to be performed elsewhere, if they had seen fit. So
they have left the choice of President with electors ; but all
this does not affect the proposition that this whole govern-
ment. President, Senate, and House of Representatives, is a
popular government. It leaves it still all its popular charac-
ter. The governor of a State (in some of the States) is
chosen not directly by the people, but by those who are
chosen by the people, for the purpose of performing, among
other duties, that of electing a governor. Is the govern-
ment of the State, on that account, not a popular government ?
This government, Sir, is the independent offspring of the
popular will. It is not the creature of State legislatures ;
nay, more, if the whole truth must be told, the people
brought it into existence, established it, and have hitherto
supported it, for the very purpose, amongst others, of impo-
sing certain salutary restraints on State sovereignties. The
States cannot now make war ; they cannot contract alliances ;
they cannot make, each for itself, separate regulations of
commerce ; they cannot lay imposts ; they cannot coin
money. If this Constitution, Sir, be the creature of State
legislatures, it must be admitted that it has obtained a
strange control over the volitions of its creators.

The people, then. Sir, erected this government. They
gave it a Constitution, and in that Constitution they have
enumerated the powers which they bestow on it. They
have made it a limited government. They have defined its
authority. They have restrained it to the exercise of such
powers as are granted ; and all others, they declare, are
reserved to the States or the people. But, Sir, they have
not stopped here. If they had, they would have accom-
plished but half their work. No definition can be so clear,
as to avoid possibility of doubt ; no limitation so precise,

122 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

as to exclude all uncertainty. Who, then, shall construe
this grant of the people 1 Who shall interpret their
will, where it may be supposed they have left it doubtful 1
With whom do they repose this ultimate right of deciding
on the powers of the government ? Sir, they have settled
all this in the fullest manner. They have left it with the
government itself, in its appropriate branches. Sir, the very
chief end, the main design, for which the whole Constitution
was framed and adopted, was to establish a government that
should not be obliged to act through State agency, or de-
pend on State opinion and State discretion. The people
had had quite enough of tlmt kind of government under the
Confederation. Under that system, the legal action, the ap-
plication of law to individuals, belonged exclusively to the
States. Congress could only recommend ; their acts were
not of binding force, till the States had adopted and sanc-
tioned them. Are we in that condition still 1 Are we yet
at the mercy of State discretion and State construction ?
Sir, if we are, then vain will be our attempt to maintain the
Constitution under which we sit.

But, Sir, the people have wisely provided, in the Consti-
tution itself, a proper, suitable mode and tribunal for settling
questions of constitutional law. There are in the Constitu-
tion grants of powers to Congress, and restrictions on these
powers. There are, also, prohibitions on the States. Same
authority must, therefore, necessarily exist, having the ulti-
mate jurisdiction to fix and ascertain the interpretation of
these grants, restrictions, and prohibitions. The Constitu-
tion itself has pointed out, ordained, and established that
authority. How has it accomplished this great and essen-
tial end ? By declaring. Sir, that " the Constitution, and the
laws of the United States made in pursuance thereof, shall be
the supreme law of the land, any thing in the constitution or
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.''''

This, Sir, was the first great step. By this the suprem-
acy of the Constitution and laws of the United States is
declared. The people so will it. No State law is to be
valid which comes in conflict with the Constitution, or any
law of the United States passed in pursuance of it. But

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 123

who shall decide this question of interference ? To whom
lies the last appeal? This, Sir, the Constitution itself de-
cides also, by declaring, <><' that the judicial power shall extend
to all cases arising under the Constitution and laws of the
United Statesy These two provisions cover the whole
ground. They are, in truth, the keystone of the arch !
With these it is a government ; without them it is a confed-
eration. In pursuance of these clear and express provisions.
Congress established, at its very first session, in the judicial
act, a mode for carrying them into full effect, and for bring-
ing all questions of constitutional power to the final decision
of the Supreme Court. It then. Sir, became a government.
It then had the means of self-protection ; and but for this, it
would, in all probability, have been now among things which
are past. Having constituted the government, and declared
its powers, the people have further said, that, since some-
body must decide on the extent of these powers, the govern-
ment shall itself decide ; subject, always, like other popular
governments, to its responsibility to the people. And now.
Sir, I repeat, how is it that a State legislature acquires any
power to interfere ? Who, or what, gives them the right to
say to the people, " We, who are your agents and servants
for one purpose, will undertake to decide, that your other
agents and servants, appointed by you for another yjurpose,
have transcended the authority you gave them ! " The reply
would be, I think, not impertinent, — " Who made you a
judge over another's servants ? To their own masters they
stand or fall."

But, Sir, although there are fears, there are hopes also.
The people have preserved this, their own chosen Constitu-
tion, for forty years, and have seen their happiness, prosper-
ity, and renown grow with its growth, and strengthen with
its strength. They are now, generally, strongly attached to
it. Overthrown by direct assault, it cannot be; evaded, un-
dermined, NULLIFIED, it will uot be, if we, and those who
shall succeed us here, as agents and representatives of the
people, shall conscientiously and vigilantly discharge the two
great branches of our public trust, faithfully to preserve, and
wisely to administer it.

124 CONSTITUTIONAL! TEXT BOOK.

Mr. President, I have thus stated the reasons of my dis-
sent to the doctrines which have been advanced and main-
tained. I am conscious of having detained you and the
Senate much too long. I was drawn into the debate with
no previous deUberation, such as is suited to the discussion
of so grave and important a subject. But it is a subject of
which my heart is full, and I have not been willing to sup-
press the utterance of its spontaneous sentiments. I cannot,
even now, persuade myself to relinquish it, without express-
ing once more my deep conviction, that, since it respects
nothing less than the Union of the States, it is of most vital
and essential importance to the pubhc happiness. I profess,
Sir, in my career hitherto, to have kept steadily in view the
prosperity and honor of the whole country, and the preser-
vation of our Federal Union. It is to that Union we owe
our safety at home, and our consideration and dignity
abroad. It is to that Union that we are chiefly indebted
for whatever makes us most proud of our country. That
Union we reached only by the discipline of our virtues in
the severe school of adversity. It had its origin in the
necessities of disordered finance, prostrate commerce, and
ruined credit. Under its benign influences, these great in-
terests immediately awoke, as from the dead, and sprang
forth with newness of life. Every year of its duration has
teemed with fresh proofs of its utility and its blessings ; and
although our territory has stretched out wider and wider,
and our population spread farther and farther, they have
not outrun its protection or its benefits. It has been to us
all a copious fountain of national, social, and personal hap-
piness.

I have not allowed myself. Sir, to look beyond the Union,
to see what might lie hidden in the dark recess behind. I
have not coolly weighed the chances of preserving liberty
when the bonds that unite us together shall be broken asun-
der. I have not accustomed myself to hang over the preci-
pice of disunion, to see whether, with my short sight, I can
fathom the depth of the abyss below ; nor could I regard
him as a safe counsellor in the afiairs of this government,
whose thoughts should be mainly bent on considering, not

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 125

how the Union may be best preserved, but how tolerable
might be the condition of tlie people when it should be
broken up and destroyed. While the Union lasts, we have
high, exciting, gratifying prospects spread out before us, for
us and our children. Beyond that I seek not to penetrate
the veil. God grant that in my day, at least, that curtain
may not rise ! God grant that on my vision never may be
opened what lies behind ! When my eyes shall be turned
to behold for the last time the sun in heaven, may I not see
him shining on the broken and dishonored fragments of a
once glorious Union ; on States dissevered, discordant, bel-
ligerent ; on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it may
be, in fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering
glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of the republic,
now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high
advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original
lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, nor a single star
obscured, bearing for its motto, no such miserable interroga-
tory as " What is all this worth 1 " nor those other words
of delusion and folly, "Liberty first and Union after-
wards ; " but every where, spread all over in characters of
living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over
the sea and over the land, and in every wind under the
whole heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true
American heart — Liberty and Union, now and for ever, one
and inseparable !

LAST REMARKS ON FOOT'S RESOLUTION.

Delivered in the Senate, on the 27th of January, 1830.

Mr. Hayne having rejoined to Mr. Webster, especially on the con-
stitutional question, Mr. Webster rose, and, in conclusion, said : —

A FEW words, Mr. President, on this constitutional argu-
ment, which the honorable gentleman has labored to recon-
struct.

His argument consists of two propositions and an infer-
ence. His propositions are, —

1. That the Constitution is a compact between the States.

2. That a compact between twoj with authority reserved

126 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

to one to interpret its terms, would be a surrender to that
one of all power whatever.

3. Therefore, (such is his inference,) the general govern-
ment does not possess the authority to construe its own
powers.

Now, Sir, who does not see, without the aid of exposi-
tion or detection, the utter confusion of ideas involved in
this so elaborate and systematic argument ?

The Constitution, it is said, is a compact between States;
the States, then, and the States only, are parties to the com-
pact. How comes the general government itself a party?
Upon the honorable gentleman's hypothesis, the general gov-
ernment is the result of the compact, the creature of the
compact, not one of the parties to it. Yet the argument, as
the gentleman has now stated it, makes the government
itself one of its own creators. It makes it a party to that
compact to which it owes its own existence.

For the purpose of erecting the Constitution on the basis
of a compact, the gentleman considers the States as parties
to that compact ; but as soon as his compact is made, then
he chooses to consider the general government, which is the
offspring of that compact, not its offspring, but one of its
parties ; and so, being a party, without the power of judg-
ing on the terms of compact. Pray, Sir, in what school is
such reasoning as this taught 1

While the gentleman is contending against construction,
he himself is setting up the most loose and dangerous con-
struction. The Constitution declares, that the laws of Con-
gress passed in pursuance of the Constitution shall be the
supreme law of the land. No construction is necessary here.
It declares, also, with equal plainness and precision, that the
judicial power of the United States shall extend to every case
arising under the laws of Congress. This needs no con-
struction. Here is a law„ then, which is declared to be
supreme ; and here is a power established, which is to inter-
pret that law. Now, Sir, how has the gentleman met this?
Suppose the Constitution to be a compact, yet here are its
terms ; and how does the gentleman get rid of them ? He
cannot argue the seal off the bond, nor the wotrds out of the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 127

instrument. Here they are ; what answer does he give to
them ? None in the world, Sir, except, that the effect of
this woul(j[ he to place the States in a condition of inferi-
ority ; and that it results from the very nature of tilings,
there being no superior, that the parties must be their own
judges ! Thus closely and cogently does the honorable
gentleman reason on the words of the Constitution. The
gentleman says, if there be such a power of final decision ia
the general government, he asks for the grant of that power.
Well, Sir, I show him the grant. I turn him to the very
words. I show him that the laws of Congress are made
supreme ; and that the judicial power extends, by express
words, to the interpretation of these laws. Instead of
answering this, he retreats into the general reflection, that
it must result from the nature of things, that the States,
being parties, must judge for themselves.

But, Sir, the gentleman has failed to maintain his leading
proposition. He has not shown, it cannot be shown, that
the Constitution is a compact between State governments.
The Constitution itself, in its very front, refutes that idea ;
it declares that it is ordained and established hy the people
of the United States. So far from saying that it is estab-
lished by the governments of the several States, it does not
even say that it is established by the people of the several
States; but it pronounces that it is established by the peo-
ple of the United States, in the aggregate. The gentleman
says, it must mean no more than the people of the several
States. Doubtless, the people of the several States, taken
collectively, constitute the people of the United States; but
it is in this, their collective capacity, it is as all the people
of the United States, that they establish the Constitution.
So they declare ; and words cannot be plainer than the
words used.

When the gentleman says the Constitution is a compact
between the States, he uses language exactly applicable to
the old Confederation. He speaks as if he were in Con-
gress before 1789. He describes fully that old state of
things then existing. The Confederation was, in strictness,
a compact ; the States, as States, were parties to it. We

T28 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

had no other general government. But that was found
insufficient, and inadequate to the public exigencies. The
people were not satisfied with it, and undertook to establish
a better. They undertook to form a general government,
which should stand on a new basis ; not a confederacy, not
a league, not a compact between States, but a Constitution ;
a popular government, founded in popular election, directly
responsible to the people themselves, and divided into
branches with prescribed limits of power, and prescribed
duties. They ordained such a government, they gave it
the name of a Constitution, and therein they established a
distribution of powers between this, their general govern-
ment, and their several State governments. When they
shall become dissatisfied with this distribution, they can alter
it. Their own power over their own instrument remains.
But until they shall alter it, it must stand as their will, and
is equally binding on the general government and on the
States.

The gentleman, Sir, finds' analogy where I see none.
He likens it to the case of a treaty, in which, there being
no common superior, each party must interpret for itself,
under its own obligation of good faith. But this is not a
treaty, but a constitution of government, with powers to
execute itself, and fulfil its duties.

I admit, Sir, that this government is a government of
checks and balances ; that is, the House of Representatives
is a check on the Senate, and the Senate is a check on the
House, and the President a check on both. But I cannot
comprehend him, or, if I do, I totally differ from him,
when he applies the notion of checks and balances to the
interference of different governments. He argues, that, if
we transgress our constitutional hmits, each State, as a
State, has a right to check us. Does he admit the converse
of the proposition, that we have a right to check the States ?
The gentleman's doctrines would give us a strange jumble
of authorities and powers, instead of governments of sepa-
rate and defined powers. It is the part of wisdom, I think,
to avoid this ; and to keep the general government and the
State government each in its proper sphere, avoiding as
carefully as possible every kind of interference.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 129

Finally, Sir, the honorable gentleman says that the
States will only interfere, by their power to preserve the
Constitution. They will not destroy it, they will not impair
it; they will only save, they will only preserve, they will
only strengthen it ! Ah ! Sir, this is but the old story.
All regulated governments, all free governments, have been
broken by similar disinterested and well-disposed interfer-
ence. It is the common pretence. But I take leave of the
subject.

PUBLIC DINNER AT NEW YORK.

Speech delivered at the City Hotel, in JVew York, on the 10th day of March, 1831.

Chancellor Kent presided, and proposed the health of their guest,
which was received with cheering and acclamation.
Mr. Webster rose and addressed the company : —

I OWE the honor of this occasion. Gentlemen, to your
patriotic and affectionate attachment to the Constitution of
our country. For an effort, well intended, however other-
wise of unpretending character, made in the discharge of
public duty, and designed to maintain the Constitution and
vindicate its just powers, you have been pleased to tender
me this token of your respect. It would be idle affectation
to deny that it gives me singular gratification. Every pub-
lic man must naturally desire the approbation of his fellow-
citizens ; and though it may be supposed that I should be
anxious, in the first place, not to disappoint the expectations
of those whose immediate representative I am, it is not pos-
sible but that I should feel, nevertheless, the high value of
such a mark of esteem as is here offered. But, Gentlemen,
I am conscious that the main purpose of this occasion is
higher than mere manifestation of personal regard. It is to
evince your devotion to the Constitution, your sense of
its transcendent value, and your just alarm at whatever
threatens to weaken its proper authority, or endanger its
existence.

Gentlemen, this could hardly be otherwise. It would be
strange, indeed, if the members of this vast commercial
9

130 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

communky should not be first and foremost to rally for the
Constitution, whenever opinions and doctrines are advanced
hostile to its principles. Where sooner than here, where
louder than here, may we expect a patriotic voice to be
raised, when the union of the States is threatened ? In this
great emporium, at this central point of the united commerce
of the United States, of all places, we may expect the warm-
est, the most determined and universal feeling of attachment
to the national government. Gentlemen, no one can estimate
more highly than I do the natural advantages of your city.
No one entertains a higher opinion than myself, also, of that
spirit of wise and liberal policy, which has actuated the
government of your own great State in the accomplishment
of high objects, important to the growth and prosperity both
of the State and the city. But all these local advantages, and
all this enlightened state policy, could never have made your
city what it now is, without the aid and protection of a gen-
eral government, extending over all the States, and establish-
ing for all a common and uniform system of commercial
regulation. Without national character, without public credit,
without systematic finance, without uniformity of commercial
laws, all other advantages possessed by this city would have
decayed and perished, like unripe fruit. A general govern-
mlent was, for years before it was instituted, the great object
of desire to the inhabitants of this city. New York, at a
very early day, was conscious of her local advantages for
commerce ; she saw her destiny, and was eager to embrace
it ; but nothing else than a general government could make
free her path before her, and set her forward on her brilliant
career. She early saw all this, and to the accomplishment
of this great and indispensable object she bent every faculty,
rnd exerted every effort. She was not mistaken. She
formed no false judgment. At the moment of the adoption
of the Constitution, New York was the capital of one State,
and contained thirty-two or three thousand people. It now
contains more than two hundred thousand people, and is
justly regarded as the commercial capital, not only of all the
United States, but of the whole continent also, from the pole
to the South Sea. Every page of her history, for the last

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 131

forty years, bears high and irresistible testimony to the bene-
fits and blessings of the general government. Her astonish-
ing growth is referred to, and quoted, all the world over,
as one of the most striking proofs of the effects of our
Federal Union. To suppose her now to be easy and indif-
ferent, when notions are advanced tending to its dissolution,
would be to suppose her equally forgetful of the past and
blind to the present, alike ignorant of her own history and
her own interest, metamorphosed, from all that she has
been, into a being tired of its prosperity, sick of its own
growth and greatness, and infatuated for its own destruction.
Every blow aimed at the union of the States strikes on the
tenderest nerve of her interest and her happiness. To bring
the Union into debate is to bring her own future prosperity
into debate also. To speak of arresting the laws of the
Union, of interposing State power in matters of commerce
and revenue, of weakening the full and just authority of the
general government, would be, in regard to this city, but
another mode of speaking of commercial ruin, of abandoned
wharves, of vacated houses, of diminished and dispersing
population, of bankrupt merchants, of mechanics without
employment, and laborers without bread. The growth of
this city and the Constitution of the United States are coevals
and contemporaries. They began together, they have flour-
ished together, and if rashness and folly destroy one, the
other will follow it to the tomb.

Gentlemen, it is true, indeed, that the growth of this city
is extraordinary, and almost unexampled. It is now, I
believe, sixteen or seventeen years since I first saw it.
Within that comparatively short period, it has added to its
number three times the whole amount of its population when
the Constitution was adopted. Of all things having power
to check this prosperity, of all things potent to blight and
blast it, of all things capable of compelling this city to recede
as fast as she has advanced, a disturbed government, an
enfeebled public authority, a broken or a weakened union
of the States, would be most efficacious. This would be
cause efficient enough. Every thing else, in the common
fortune of communities, she may hope to resist or to prevent ;
but this would be fatal as the arrow of death.

132 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Gentlemen, you have personal recollections and as-
sociations, connected with the establishment and adoption
of the Constitution, which are necessarily called up on an
occasion like this. It is impossible to forget the prominent
agency exercised by eminent citizens of your own, in regard
to that great measure. Those great men are now recorded
among the illustrious dead ; but they have left names never
to be forgotten, and never to be remembered without re-
spect and veneration. Least of all can they be forgotten by
you, when assembled here for the purpose of signifying your
attachment to the Constitution, and your sense of its inesti-
iTiable importance to the happiness of the people.

I should do violence to my own feeUngs, Gentlemen, I
think I should offend yours, if I omitted respectful mention
of distinguished names yet fresh in your recollections. How
can I stand here to speak of the Constitution of the United
States, of the wisdom of its provisions, of the difficulties at-
tending its adoption, of the evils from which it rescued the
country, and of the prosperity and power to which it has
raised it, and yet pay no tribute to those who were highly
instrumental in accomplishing the work ? While we are
here to rejoice that it yet stands firm and strong, while we
congratulate one another that we live under its benign in-
fluence, and cherish hopes of its long duration, we cannot
forget who they were that, in the day of our national infan-
cy, in the times of despondency and despair, mainly assisted
to work out our deliverance. I should feel that I was un-
faithful to the strong recollections which the occasion presses
upon us, that I was not true to gratitude, not true to patriot-
ism, not true to the Hving or the dead, not true to your feel-
ings or my own, if I should forbear to make mention of
Alexander Hamilton.

Coming from the military service of the country yet a
youth, but with knowledge and maturity, even in civil afi^airs,
far beyond his years, he made this city the place of his
adoption ; and he gave the whole powers of his mind to the
contemplation of the weak and distracted condition of the
country. Daily increasing in acquaintance and confidence
with the people of New York, he saw, what they also saw,
the absolute necessity of some closer bond of union for the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 133

States. This was the great object of desire. He never
appears to have lost sight of it, but was found in the lead
whenever any thing was to be attempted for its accomplish-
ment. One experiment after another, as is well known,
was tried, and all failed. The States were urgently called
on to confer such further powers on the old Congress as
would enable it to redeem the public faith, or to adopt,
themselves, some general and common principle of com-
mercial regulation. But the States had not agreed, and
were not likely to agree. In this posture of affairs, so full
of difficulty and public distress, commissioners from five or
six of the States met, on the request of Virginia, at Annap-
olis, in September, 1786. The precise object of their ap-
pointment was to take into consideration the trade of the
United States ; to examine the relative situations and trade
of the several States ; and to consider how far a uniform
system of commercial regulations was necessary to their
common interest and permanent harmony. Mr. Hamilton
was one of these commissioners ; and I have understood,
though I cannot assert the fact, that their report was drawn
by him. His associate from this State was the venerable
Judge Benson, who has lived long, and still lives, to see the
happy results of the counsels which originated in this meet-
ing. Of its members, he and Mr. Madison are, I believe,
now the only survivors. These commissioners recommend-
ed, what took place the next year, a general Convention of
all the States, to take into serious deliberation the condition of
the country, and devise such provisions as should render the
constitution of the federal government adequate to the exi-
gencies of the Union. I need not remind you that of this
Convention Mr. Hamilton was an active and efficient mem-
ber. The Constitution was framed, and submitted to the
country. And then another great work was to be under-
taken. The Constitution would naturally find, and did find,
enemies and opposers. Objections to it were numerous,
and powerful, and spirited. They were to be answered ;
and they were efi'ectually answered. The writers of the
numbers of the Federalist, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and
Mr. Jay, so greatly distinguished themselves in their dis^

134 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

cussions of the Constitution, that those numbers are generally
received as important commentaries on the text, and accurate
expositions, in general, of its objects and purposes. Those
papers were all written and published in this city. Mr. Ham-
ilton was elected one of the distinguished delegation from
the city to the State Convention at Poughkeepsie, called
to ratify the new Constitution. Its debates are published.
Mr. Hamilton appears to have exerted, on this occasion, to
the utmost, every power and faculty of his mind.

The whole question was likely to depend on the decision
of New York. He felt the full importance of the crisis;
and the reports of his speeches, imperfect as they probably
are, are yet lasting monuments to his genius and patriotism.
He saw at last his hopes fulfilled ; he saw the Constitution
adopted, and the government under it established and or-
ganized. The discerning eye of Washington immediately
called him to that post, which was far the most important in
the administration of the new system. He was made Secre-
tary of the Treasury; and how he fulfilled the duties of
such a place, at such a time, the whole country perceived
with delight and the whole world saw with admiration. He
smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant
streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead
corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprung upon its feet.
The fabled birth of Minerva, from the brain of Jove, was
hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial sys-
tem of the United States, as it burst forth from the con-
ceptions of Alexander Hamilton.

Your recollections. Gentlemen, your respect, and your
affections, all conspire to bring before you, at such a time
as this, another great man, now too numbered with the
dead. I mean the pure, the disinterested, the patriotic John
.Tay. His character is a brilliant jewel in the sacred treas-
ures of national reputation. Leaving his profession at an
early period, yet not before he had singularly distinguished
himself in it, his whole life, from the commencement of the
Revolution until his final retirement, was a life of public
service. A member of the first Congress, he was the author
of that political paper which is generally acknowledged to

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 135

Stand first among the incomparable productions of that
body ; * productions which called forth that decisive strain
of commendation from the great Lord Chatham, in which
he pronounced them not inferior to the finest productions
of the master states of the world. Mr. Jay had been abroad,
and he had also been long intrusted with the difficult duties
of our foreign correspondence at home. He had seen and
felt, in the fullest measure and to the greatest possible ex-
tent, the difficulty of conducting our foreign affairs honor-
ably and usefidly, without a stronger and more perfect do-
mestic union. Though not a member of the Convention
which framed the Constitution, he was yet present while it
was in session, and looked anxiously for its result. By the
choice of this city, he had a seat in the State Convention, and
took an active and zealous part for the adoption of the Consti-
tution. On the organization of the new government, he was
selected by Washington to be the first Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States ; and surely the high and
most responsible duties of that station could not have been
trusted to abler or safer hands. It is the duty of that tribu-
nal, one of equal importance and delicacy, to decide consti-
tutional questions, occasionally arising on State laws. The
general learning and ability, and especially the prudence,
the mildness, und the firmness of his character, eminently
fitted Mr. Jay to be the head of such a court. When the
spotless ermine of the judicial robe fell on John Jay, it
touched nothing less spotless than itself.

These eminent men. Gentlemen, the contemporaries of
some of you, known to most, and revered by all, were so
conspicuous in the framing and adopting of the Constitution,
and called so early to important stations under it, that a
tribute, better, indeed, than I have given, or am able to give,
seemed due to them from us, on this occasion.

There was yet another, of whom mention is to be made.
In the Revolutionary history of the country, the name of
Chancellor Livingston became early prominent. He was
a member of that Congress which declared Independence ;
and a member, too, of the committee which drew and report-

* Address to the People of Great Britain.

136 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ed the immortal Declaration. At the period of the adoption
of the Constitution, he was its firm friend and able advocate.
He was a member of. the State Convention, being one of
that list of distinguished and gifted men who represented this
city in that body ; and he threw the whole weight of his tal-
ents and influence into the doubtful scale of the Constitution.

Gentlemen, as connected with the Constitution, you have
also local recollections which must bind it still closer to your
attachment and afl*ection. It commenced its being and its
blessings here. It was in this city, in the midst of friends,
anxious, hopeful, and devoted, that the new government
started in its course. To us. Gentlemen, who are younger,
it has come down by tradition ; but some around me are
old enough to have witnessed, and did witness, the interest-
ing scene of the first inauguration. They remember what
voices of gratified patriotism, what shouts of enthusiastic
hope, what acclamations rent the air, how many eyes were
suffused with tears of joy, how cordially each man pressed
the hand of him who was next to him, when, standing in the
open air in the centre of the city, in the view of assembled
thousands, the first President of the United States was heard
solemnly to pronounce the words of his official oath, repeat-
ing them from the lips of Chancellor Livingston. You then
thought. Gentlemen, that the great work of the Revolution was
accomplished. You then felt that you had a government;
that the United States were then, indeed, united. Every^
benignant star seemed to shed its selectest influence on that
auspicious hour. Here were heroes of the Revolution ;
here were sages of the Convention ; here were minds, disci-
pUned and schooled in all the various fortunes of the coun-
try, acting now in several relations, but all cooperating to
the same great end, the successful administration of the new
and untried Constitution. And he, — how shall I speak of
him ? — he was at the head, who was already first in war,
who was already first in the hearts of his countrymen, and
who was now shown also, by the unanimous suffi'age of the
country, to be first in peace.

Gentlemen, how gloriously have the hopes then indulged
been fulfilled ! Whose expectation was then so sanguine,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 137

I may almost ask, whose imagination then so extravagant,
as to run forward, and contemplate as probable, the one half
of what has been accomplished in forty years? Who among
you can go back to 1789, and see what this city, and this
country, too, then were ; and, beholding what they now are,
can be ready to consent that the Constitution of the United
States shall be weakened — dishonored — nullified ?

The legislative history of the first two or three years of
the government is full of instruction. It presents, in strik-
ing light, the evils intended to be remedied by the Consti-
tution, and the provisions which were deemed essential to
the remedy of those evils. It exhibits the country, in the
moment of its change from a weak and ill-defined confed-
eracy of States, into a general, eflScient, but still restrained
and limited government. It shows the first working of our
peculiar system, moved, as it then was, by master hands.

Gentlemen, for one, I confess I like to dwell on this part
of our history. It is good for us to be here. It is good
for us to study the situation of the country at this period, to
survey its difficulties, to look at the conduct of its public
men, to see how they struggled with obstacles, real and for-
midable, and how gloriously they brought the Union out of
its state of depression and distress. Truly, Gentlemen,
these founders and fathers of the Constitution were great
men, and thoroughly furnished for every good work. All
that reading and learning could do ; all that talent and
intelligence could do ; and, what perhaps is still more, all
that long experience in difficult and troubled times and a
deep and intimate practical knowledge of the condition of
the country could do, — conspired to fit them for the great
business of forming a general, but limited government, em-
bracing common objects, extending over all the States, and
yet touching the power of the States no further than those
common objects require. I confess I love to linger around
these original fountains, and to drink deep of their waters.
I love to imbibe, in as full measure as I may, the spirit of
those who laid the foundations of the government, and so
wisely and skilfully balanced and adjusted its bearings and
proportions.

138 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Gentlemen, what I have said of the benefits of the Con-
stitution to your city might be said, with Uttle change, in
respect to every other part of the country. Its benefits are
not exchisive. What has it left undone, which any govern-
ment could do, for the whole country ? In what condition
has it placed us ? Where do we now stand 1 Are we ele-
vated, or degraded, by its operation ? What is our condi-
tion under its influence, at the very moment when some talk
of arresting its power and breaking its unity 1 Do we not
feel ourselves on an eminence ? Do we not challenge the
respect of the whole world 1 What has placed us thus high ?
What has given us this just pride ? What else is it, but the
unrestrained and free operation of that same Federal Con-
stitution, which it has been proposed now to hamper, and
manacle, and nullify ? Who is there among us, that, should
he find himself on any spot of the earth where human beings
exist, and where the existence of other nations is known,
vs^ould not be proud to say, I am an American ? I am a
countryman of Washington ? I am a citizen of that re-
public, which, although it has suddenly sprung up, yet there
are none on the globe who have ears to hear, and have not
heard of it ; who have eyes to see, and have not read of it ;
who know any thing, and yet do not know of its existence
and its glory 1 And, Gentlemen, let me now reverse the
picture. Let me ask, who there is among us, if he were
to be found to-morrow in one of the civilized countries of
Europe, and were there to learn that this goodly form of
government had been overthrown, that the United States
were no longer united, that a death blow had been struck
upon their bond of union, that they themselves had de-
stroyed their chief good and their chief honor, — who is
there whose heart would not sink within him ? Who is
there who would not cover his face for very shame ?

At this very moment. Gentlemen, our country is a general
refuge for the distressed and the persecuted of other nations.
Whoever is in affliction from political occurrences in his own
country looks here for shelter. Whether he be republican,
flying from the oppression of thrones, or whether he be
monarch or monarchist, flying from thrones that crumble

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 130

and fall under or around him, he feels equal assurance, that,
if he get foothold on our soil, his person will be safe, and
his rights will be respected.

And who will venture to say, that, in any government now
existing in the world, there is greater security for persons or
property than in that of the United States ? We have tried
these popular institutions in times of great excitement and
commotion, and they have stood, substantially, firm and
steady, while the fountains of the great political deep have
been elsewhere broken up; while thrones, resting on ages of
prescription, have tottered and fallen ; and while, in other
countries, the earthquake of unrestrained popular commo-
tion has swallowed up all law, and all liberty, and all right
together. Our government has been tried in peace, and it
has been tried in war, and has proved itself fit for both.
It has been assailed from without, and it has successfully
resisted the shock ; it has been disturbed within^ and it has
effectually quieted the disturbance. It can stand trial, it
can stand assault, it can stand adversity, it can stand every
thing, but the marring of its own beauty, and the weaken-
ing of its own strength. It can stand every thing but the
effects of our own rashness and our own folly. It can stand
every thing but disorganization, disunion, and nullification.

It is a striking fact, and as true as it is striking, that at
this very moment, among all the principal civilized states of
the world, that government is most secure against the danger
of popular commotion which is itself entirely popular. It
seems, indeed, that the submission of every thing to the
public will, under constitutional restraints, imposed by the
people themselves, furnishes itself security that they will
desire nothing wrong.

Certain it is, that popular, constitutional liberty, as we en-
joy it, appears, in the present state of the world, as sure
and stable a basis for government to rest upon, as any gov-
ernment of enlightened states can find, or does find. Cer-
tain it is, that, in these times of so much popular knowl-
edge, and so much popular activity, those governments which
do not admit the people to partake in their administration,
but keep them under and beneath, sit on materials for an

140 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

explosion, which may take place at any moment, and blow
them into a thousand atoms.

Gentlemen, let any man, who would degrade and enfeeble
the national Constitution, let any man who would nuHify its
laws, stand forth and tell us what he would wish. What
does he propose ? Whatever he may be, and whatever sub-
stitute he may hold forth, I am sure the people of this coun-
try will decUne his kind interference, and hold on by the
Constitution which they possess. Any one who would will-
ingly destroy it, I rejoice to know, would be looked upon
with abhorrence. It is deeply intrenched in the regards of
the people. Doubtless it may be undermined by artful and
long-continued hostility ; it may be imperceptibly weakened
by secret attack ; it may be insidiously shorn of its powers
by slow degrees ; the public vigilance may be lulled, and
when it awakes, it may find the Constitution frittered away.
In these modes, or some of them, it is possible that the union
of the States may be dissolved.

But if the general attention of the people be kept alive,
if they see the intended mischief before it is effected, they
will prevent it by their own sovereign power. They will in-
terpose themselves between the meditated blow and the
object of their regard and attachment. Next to the con-
trolling authority of the people themselves, the preservation
of the government is mainly committed to those who admin-
ister it. If conducted in wisdom, it cannot but stand strong.
Its genuine, original spirit is a patriotic, liberal, and gener-
ous spirit ; a spirit of conciliation, of moderation, of candor,
and charity ; a spirit of friendship, and not a spirit of hos-
tility toward the States ; a spirit careful not to exceed, and
equally careful not to relinquish, its just powers. While no
interest can or ought to feel itself shut out from the benefits
of the Constitution, none should consider those benefits as
exclusively its own. The interests of all must be consulted,
and reconciled, and provided for, as far as possible, that all
may perceive the benefits of a united government.

Among other things, we are to remember that new States
have arisen, possessing already an immense population, spread-
ing and thickening over vast regions which were a wilder-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 141

ness when the Constitution was adopted. Those States are
not, like New York, directly connected with maritime com-
merce. Tiiey are entirely agricultural, and need markets
for consumption ; and they need, too, access to those mar-
kets. It is the duty of the government to bring the inter-
ests of these new States into the Union, and incorporate
them closely in the family compact. Gentlemen, it is not
impracticable to reconcile these various interests, and so to
administer the government as to make it useful to all. It
was never easier to administer the government than it is
now. We are beset with none, or with few, of its original
difficulties ; and it is a time of great general prosperity and
happiness. Shall we admit ourselves incompetent to carry
on the government, so as to be satisfactory to the whole
country 1 Shall we admit that there has so little descended
to us of the wisdom and prudence of our fathers 1 If the
government could be administered in Washington's time,
when it was yet new, when the country was heavily in debt,
when foreign relations were in a threatening condition, and
when Indian wars pressed on the frontiers, can it not be ad-
ministered now ? Let us not acknowledge ourselves so
unequal to our duties.

Gentlemen, on the occasion referred to by the chair, it
became necessary to consider the judicial power, and its
proper functions under the Constitution. In every free and
balanced government, this is a most essential and important
power. Indeed, I think it is a remark of Mr. Hume, that
the administration of justice seems to be the leading object
of institutions of government ; that legislatures assemble,
that armies are embodied, that both war and peace are made,
with a sort of ultimate reference to the proper administra-
tion of laws, and the judicial protection of private rights.
The judicial power comes home to every man. If the legis-
lature passes incorrect or unjust general laws, its members
bear the evil as well as others. But judicature acts on in-
dividuals. It touches every private right, every private in-
terest, and almost every private feeling. What we possess
is hardly fit to be called our own, unless we feel secure in
its possession ; and this security, this feeling of perfect

142 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

safety, cannot exist under a wicked, or even under a weak
and ignorant, administration of the laws. There is no hap-
piness, there is no liberty, there is no enjoyment of life, un-
less a man can say when he rises in the morning, I shall be
subject to the decision of no unjust judge to-day.

But, Gentlemen, the judicial department, under the Con-
stitution of the United States, possesses still higher duties.
It is true, that it may be called on, and is occasionally called
on, to decide questions which are, in one sense, of a political
nature. The general and State governments, both estab-
lished by the people, are established for different purposes,
and with different powers. Between those powers questions
may arise ; and who shall decide them 1 Some provision
for this end is absolutely necessary. What shall it be ? Tiiis
was the question before the Convention ; and various schemes
were suggested. It was foreseen that the States might
inadvertently pass laws inconsistent with the Constitution of
the United States, or with acts of Congress. At least, laws
might be passed which would be charged with such incon-
sistency. How should these questions be disposed of]
Where shall the power of judging, in cases of alleged in-
terference, be lodged ? One suggestion in the Convention
was, to make it an executive power, and to lodge it in the
hands of the President, by requiring all State laws to be
submitted to him, that he might negative such as he thought
appeared repugnant to the general Constitution. This idea,
perhaps, may have been borrowed from the power exercised
by the crown over the laws of the Colonies. It would
evidently have been, not only an inconvenient and trouble-
some proceeding, but dangerous also to the powers of the
States. It was not pressed. It was thought wiser and safer,
on the whole, to require State legislatures and State judges
to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United
States, and then leave the States at liberty to pass whatever
laws they pleased, and if interference, in point of fact,
should arise, to refer the question to judicial decision. To
this end, the judicial power, under the Constitution of the
United States, was made coextensive with the legislative
power. It was extended to all cases arising under the Con-

SELECTIONS FROM WEB3TER. 143

gtitution and the laws of Congress. The judiciary became
thus possessed of the authority of deciding, in the last re-
sort, in all cases of alleged interference, between State laws
and the Constitution and laws of Congress.

Gentlemen, this is the actual Constitution, this is the law
of the land. There may be those who think it unnecessary,
or who would prefer a different mode of deciding such ques-
tions. But this is the established mode, and, till it be al-
tered, the courts can no more decline their duty on these
occasions than on other occasions. But can any reasonable
man doubt the expediency of this provision, or suggest a
better 7 Is it not absolutely essential to the peace of the
country that this power should exist somewhere ? Where
can it exist, better than where it now does exist ? The
national judiciary is the common tribunal of the whole
country. It is organized by the common authority, and its
places filled by the common agent. This is a plain and
practical provision. It was framed by no bunglers, nor by
any wild theorists. And who can say that it has failed 1
Who can find substantial fault with its operation or its re-
sults ? The great question is, whether we shall provide for
the peaceable decision of cases of collision. Shall they be
decided by law, or by force ? Shall the decisions be de-
cisions of peace, or decisions of war 1

Gentlemen, our country stands, at the present time, on
commanding ground. Older nations, with different systems
of government, may be somewhat slow to acknowledge all
that justly belongs to us. But we may feel, without vanity,
that America is doing her part in the great work of im-
proving human affairs. There are two principles. Gentle-
men, strictly and purely American, which are now likely to
prevail throughout the civilized world. Indeed, they seem
the necessary result of the progress of civihzation and
knowledge. These are, first, popular governments, re-
strained by written constitutions ; and, secondly, universal
education. Popular governments and general education,
acting and reacting, mutually producing and reproducing
each other, are the mighty agencies which in our days ap-
pear to be exciting, stimulating, and changing civilized

144 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

societies. Man, every where, is now found demanding a par-
ticipation in government — and he will not be refused ; and
he demands knowledge as necessary to self-government.
On the basis of these two principles, liberty and knowledge,
our own American systems rest. Thus far we have not been
disappointed in their results. Our existing institutions,
raised on these foundations, have conferred on us almost
unmixed happiness. Do we hope to better our condition
by change ? When we shall have nullified the present Con-
stitution, what are we to receive in its place ? As fathers,
do we wish for our children better government, or better
laws ? As members of society, as lovers of our country, is
there any thing we can desire for it better than that, as ages
and centuries roll over it, it may possess the same invaluable
institutions which it now enjoys 1 For my part, Gentlemen,
I can only say, that I desire to thank the beneficent Author
of all good for being born where I was born, and when I was
born ; that the portion of human existence alloted to me
has been meted out to me in this goodly land, and at this
interesting period. I rejoice that I have lived to see so
much development of truth, so much progress of liberty, so
much difiiision of virtue and happiness. And, through good
report and evil report, it will be my consolation to be a
citizen of a republic unequalled in the annals of the world
for the freedom of its institutions, its high prosperity, and
the prospects of good which yet lie before it. Our course,
Gentlemen, is onward, straight onward, and forward. Let
us not turn to the right hand, nor to the left. Our path is
marked out for us, clear, plain, bright, distinctly defined,
like the milky way across the heavens. If we are true to
our country, in our day and generation, and those who come
after us shall be true to it also, assuredly, assuredly, we
shall elevate her to a pitch of prosperity and happiness, of
honor and power, never yet reached by any nation beneath
the sun.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 145

THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON.

Speech delivered at a Public Dinner in honor of the Centennial Birthday of Washington^
on the 22<f of February, 1832.

On the 22d of February, 1832, being the centennial birthday of
Geokge Washington, a number of gentlemen, members of Congress
and others, from different parts of the Union, united in commemorating
the occasion by a public dinner in the city of Washington.

At the request of the Committee of Arrangements, Mr. Webster, then
a Senator from Massachusetts, occupied the chair. After the cloth was
removed, he addressed the company.

I RISE, Gentlemen, to propose to you the name of that
great man, in commemoration of whose birth, and in honor
of whose character and services, we are here assembled.

I am sure that I express a sentiment common to every
one present, when I say that there is something more than
ordinarily solemn and affecting in this occasion.

We are met to testify our regard for him whose name is
intimately blended with whatever belongs most essentially to
the prosperity, the liberty, the free institutions, and the re-
nown of our country. That name was of power to rally a
nation, in the hour of thick-thronging public disasters and
calamities ; that name shone, amid the storm of war, a bea-
con light, to cheer and guide the country's friends ; it flamed,
too, like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name, in the
days of peace, was a loadstone, attracting to itself a whole
people's confidence, a whole people's love, and the whole
world's respect. That name, descending with all time,
spreading over the whole earth, and uttered in all the lan-
guages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will for
ever be pronounced with affectionate gratitude by every one
in whose breast there shall arise an aspiration for human
rights and human liberty.

We perform this grateful duty. Gentlemen, at the expira-
tion of a hundred years from his birth, near the place, so
cherished and beloved by him, where his dust now reposes,
and in the capital which bears his own immortal name.

All experience evinces that human sentiments are strongly
influenced by associations. The recurrence of anniversa-
10

146 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ries, or of longer periods of time, naturally freshens the
recollection, and deepens the impression, of events with
which they are historically connected. Renowned places,
also, have a power to awaken feeling, which all acknowl-
edge. No American can pass by the fields of Bunker Hill,
Monmouth, and Camden, as if they were ordinary spots on
the earth's surface. Whoever visits them feels the senti-
ment of love of country kindling anew, as if the spirit that
belonged to the transactions which have rendered these
places distinguished still hovered round, with power to move
and excite all who in future time may approach them.

But neither of these sources of emotion equals the power
with wliich great moral exaniples aiFect the mind. When
sublime virtues cease to be abstractions, when they become
embodied in human character, and exemplified in human
conduct, we should be false to our own nature, if we did not
indulge in the spontaneous effusions of our gratitude and
our admiration. A true lover of the virtue of patriotism
delights to contemplate its purest models ; and that love of
country may be well suspected which afflects to soar so high
into the regions of sentiment as to be lost and absorbed in
the abstract feeling, and becomes too elevated or too refined
to glow with fervor in the commendation or the love of in-
dividual benefactors. All this is unnatural. It is as if one
should be so entlmsiastic a lover of poetry as to care noth-
ing for Homer or Milton ; so passionately attached to elo-
quence as to be indiff'erent to Tully and Chatham ; or such a
devotee to the arts, in such an ecstasy with the elements of
beauty, proportion, and expression, as to regard the master-
pieces of Raphael and Michael Angelo with coldness or
contempt. We may be assured. Gentlemen, that he who
really loves the thing itself, loves its finest exhibitions. A
true friend of his country loves her friends and benefactors,
and thinks it no degradation to commend and commemorate
them. The voluntary outpouring of the public feeling, made
to-day, from the North to the South, and from tlie East to the
West, proves this sentiment to be both just and natural. In
the cities and in the villages, in the public temples and in the
family circles, among all ages and sexes, gladdened voices

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 147

to-day bespeak grateful hearts and a freshened recollection
o^ ihe virtues of the Father of his Country. And it will be
'^, in all time to come, so long as public virtue is itself an
object of regard. The ingenuous youth of America will hold
up to themselves the bright model of Washington's example,
and study to be what they behold ; they will contemplate
his character till all its virtues spread out and display them-
selves to their delighted vision ; as the earliest astronomers,
the shepherds on the plains of Babylon, gazed at the stars
till they saw them form into clusters and constellations,
overpowering at length the eyes of the beholders with the
united blaze of a thousand lights.

Gentlemen, we are at the point of a century from the
birth of Washington ; and what a century it has been !
During its course, the human mind has seemed to proceed
with a sort of geometric velocity, accomplishing, for hu-
man intelligence and human freedom, more than had been
done in fives or tens of centuries preceding. Washington
stands at the commencement of a new era, as well as at the
head of the New World. A century froni the birth of
Washington has changed the world. The country of Wash-
ington has been the theatre on which a great part of that
change has been wrought ; and Washington himself a prin-
cipal agent by which it has been accomplished. His age
and his country are equally full of wonders ; and of both he
is the chief.

If the poetical prediction, uttered a few years before his
birth, be true ; if indeed it be designed by Providence that
the grandest exhibition of human character and human
affairs shall be made on this theatre of the Western world ;
if it be true that,

" The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama of the day;
Time's noblest offspring is the last ; "

liow could this imposing, swelling, final scene be appropri-
ately opened, how could its intense interest be adequately
sustained, but by the introduction of just such a character
as our Washington 1

148 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Washington had attained his manhood when that spark
of hberty was struck out in his own country, which has since
kindled into a flame, and shot its beams over the earth. In
the flow of a century from his birth, the world has changed
»*? science, in arts, in the extent of commerce, in the im-
provement of navigation, and in all that relates to the civili-
Lation of man. But it is the spirit of human freedom, the
new elevation of individual man, in his moral, social, and
political character, leading the whole long train of other
improvements, which has most remarkably distinguished the
era. Society, in this century, has not made its progress, like
Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of ingenuity in trifles ;
it has not merely lashed itself to an increased speed round
the old circles of thought and action ; but it has assumed a
new character ; it has raised itself from heneatli governments
to a participation in governments ; it has mixed moral and
political objects with the daily pursuits of individual men ;
and, with a freedom and strength before altogether unknown,
it has applied to these objects the whole power of the hu-
man understanding. It has been the era, in short, when the
social principle has triumphed over the feudal principle ;
when society has maintained its rights against military
power, and established, on foundations never hereafter to be
shaken, its competency to govern itself.

It was the extraordinary fortune of Washington, that, hav-
ing been intrusted, in revolutionary times, with the supreme
military command, and having fulfilled that trust with equal
renown for wisdom and for valor, he should be placed at the
head of the first government in which an attempt was to be
made on a large scale to rear the fabric of social order on the
basis of a written constitution and of a pure representative
principle. A government was to be established, without a
throne, without an aristocracy, without castes, orders, or
privileges ; and this government, instead of being a democ-
racy, existing and acting within the walls of a single city,
was to be extended over a vast country, of different climates,
interests, and habits, and of various communions of our
common Christian faith. The experiment certainly was
entirely new. A popular government of this extent, it was

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 149

evident, could be framed only by carrying into full effect
the principle of representation or of delegated power ; and
the world was to see whether society could, by the strength
of this principle, maintain its own peace and good govern-
ment, carry forward its own great interests, and conduct
itself to political renown and glory. By the benignity of
Providence, this experiment, so full of interest to us and to our
posterity for ever, so full of interest, indeed, to the world in
its present generation and in all its generations to come, was
suffered to commence under the guidance of Washington.
Destined for this high career, he was fitted for it by wisdom,
by virtue, by patriotism, by discretion, by whatever can in-
spire confidence in man toward man. In entering on the
untried scenes, early disappointment and the premature ex-
tinction of all hope of success would have been certain, had
it not been that there did exist throughout the country, m a
most extraordinary degree, an unwavering trust in him who
stood at the helm.

I remarked. Gentlemen, that the whole world was and is
interested in the result of this experiment. And is it not
so ? Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this
moment the career which this government is running is
among the most attractive objects to the civilized world ?
Do we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this moment
that love of Uberty and that understanding of its true princi-
ples which are flying over the whole earth, as on the winga
of all the winds, are really and truly of American origin ?

The principles of Washington's administration are not
left doubtful. They are to be found in the Constitution
itself, in the great measures recommended and approved by
him, in his speeches to Congress, and in that most interest-
ing paper, his Farewell Address to the People of the United
States. The success of the government under his adminis-
tration is the highest proof of the soundness of these princi-
ples. And, after an experience of thirty-five years, what is
there which an enemy could condemn ? What is there
which either his friends, or the friends of the country, could
wish to have been otherwise ? I speak, of course, of great
measures and leading principles.

150 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

His principle it was to act right, and to trust the people
for support ; his principle it was not to follow the lead of
sinister and selfish ends, nor to rely on the little arts of party
delusion to obtain public sanction for such a course. Born
for his country and for the world, he did not give up to party
what was meant for mankind. The consequence is, that
his fame is as durable as his principles, as lasting as truth
and virtue themselves. While the hundreds v/hom party
excitement, and temporary circumstances, and casual com-
binations, have raised into transient notoriety, sink again,
like thin bubbles, bursting and dissolving into the great
ocean, Washington's fame is like the rock which bounds
that ocean, and at whose feet its billows are destined to
break harmlessly for ever.

The maxims upon which Washington conducted our for-
eign relations were few and simple. The first was an entire
and indisputable impartiality towards foreign states. He
adhered to this rule of public conduct, against very strong
inducements, to depart from it, and when the popularity of
the moment seemed to favor such a departure. In the next
place, he maintained true dignity and unpuUied honor in all
communications with foreign states. It was among the high
duties devolved upon him, to introduce our new government
into the circle of civilized states and powerful nations. Not
arrogant or assuming, with no unbecoming or supercilious
bearing, he yet exacted for it from all others entire and
punctilious respect. He demanded, and he obtained at
once, a standing of perfect equality for his country in the
society of nations ; nor was there a prince or potentate of
his day, whose personal character carried with it, into the
intercourse of other states, a greater degree of respect and
veneration.

He regarded other nations only as they stood in political
relations to us. With their internal affairs, their political
parties and dissensions, he scrupulously abstained from all
interference ; and, on the other hand, he repelled with spirit
all such interference by others with us or our concerns.
His sternest rebuke, the most indignant measure of his
whole administration, was aimed against such an attempted

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 151

interference. He felt it as an attempt to wound the nation-
al honor, and resented it accordingly.

The reiterated admonitions in his Farewell Address show
his deep fears that foreign influence would insinuate itself
into our counsels through the channels of domestic dissen-
sion, and obtain a sympathy with our own temporary par-
ties. Against all such dangers, he most earnestly entreats
tlie country to guard itself. He appeals to its patriotism, to
its self-respect, to its own honor, to every consideration
connected with its welfare and happiness, to resist, at the
very beginning, all tendencies towards such connection of
foreign interests with our own affairs. With a tone of ear-
nestness nowhere else found, even in his last affectionate fare-
well advice to his countrymen, he says, " Against the insid-
ious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me,
fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
constantly awake ; since history and experience prove, that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republi-
can government."

Lastly, on the subject of foreign relations, Washington
never forgot that we had interests peculiar, to ourselves.
The primary political concerns of Europe, he saw, did not
affect us. We had nothing to do with her balance of power,
her family compacts, or her successions to thrones. We
were placed in a condition favorable to neutrality during
European wars, and to the enjoyment of all the great ad-
vantages of that relation. " Why, then," he asks us, " why
forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why
quit our own to stand upon foreign ground 1 Why, by
interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe,
entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European
ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice 1 "

Indeed, Gentlemen, Washington's Farewell Address is full
of truths important at all times, and particularly deserving
consideration at the present. With a sagacity which brought
the future before him, and made it like the present, he saw
and pointed out the dangers that even at this moment most
imminently threaten us. I hardly know how a greater service
of that kind could now be done to the community, than by

152 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

a renewed and wide diffusion of that admirable paper, and
an earnest invitation to every man in the country to reperuse
and consider it. Its political maxims are invaluable ; its ex-
hortations to love of country and to brotherly affection
among citizens, touching ; and the solemnity with which it
urges the observance of moral duties, and impresses the
power of religious obhgation, gives to it the highest char-
acter of truly disinterested, sincere, parental advice.

The domestic policy of Washington found its polestar in
the avowed objects of the Constitution itself. He sought so
to administer that Constitution, as to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquilUty, provide
for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and
secure the blessings of liberty. These were objects interest-
ing, in the highest degree, to the whole country, and his
policy embraced the whole country.

Among his earliest and most important duties was the or-
ganization of the government itself, the choice of his confi-
dential advisers, and the various appointments to office.
This duty, so important and delicate, when a whole govern-
ment was to be organized, and all its offices for the first time
filled, was yet not difficult to him ; for he had no sinister
ends to accomplish, no clamorous partisans to gratify, no
pledges to redeem, no object to be regarded but simply the
public good. It was a plain, straightforward matter, a mere
honest choice of good men for the public service.

His own singleness of purpose, his disinterested pa-
triotism, were evinced by the selection of his first cabinet,
and by the manner in which he filled the seats of justice,
and other places of high trust. He sought for men fit for
offices ; not for offices which might suit men. Above per-
sonal considerations, above local considerations, above party
considerations, he felt that he could only discharge the sacred
trust which the country had placed in his hands, by a dili-
gent inquiry after real merit, and a conscientious preference
of virtue and talent. The whole country was the field of
his selection. He explored that whole field, looking only
for whatever it contained most worthy and distinguished-
He was, indeed, most successful, and he deserved success

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 153

for the purity of his motives, the Hberality of his sentiments,
and his enlarged and manly policy.

Washington's administration established the national credit,
made provision for the public debt, and* for that patriotic
army whose interests and welfare were always so dear to
him ; and, by laws wisely framed, and of admirable effect,
raised the commerce and navigation of the country, almost
at once, from depression and ruin to a state of prosperity.
Nor were his eyes open to these interests alone. He viewed
with equal concern its agriculture and manufactures, and, so
far as they came within the regular exercise of the powers
of this government, they experienced regard and favor.

It should not be omitted, even in this slight reference to
the general measures and general principles of the first
President, that he saw and felt the full value and importance
of the judicial department of the government. An upright
and able administration of the laws he held to be alike in-
dispensable to private happiness and public liberty. The
temple of justice, in his opinion, was a sacred place, and he
would profane and pollute it who should call any to minister
in it, not spotless in character, not incorruptible in integrity,
not competent by talent and learning, not a fit object of
unhesitating trust.

Among other admonitions, Washington has left us, in his
communication to his country, an exhortation against the
excesses of party spirit. A fire not to be quenched, he yet
conjures us not to fan and feed the flame. Undoubtedly,
Gentlemen, it is the greatest danger of our system and of
our time. Undoubtedly, if that system should be over-
thrown, it will be the work of excessive party spirit, acting
on the government, which is dangerous enough, or acting in
the government, which is a thousand times more dangerous ;
for government then becomes nothing but organized party,
and, in the strange vicissitudes of human affairs, it may come
at last, perhaps, to exhibit the singular paradox of govern-
ment itself being in opposition to its own powers, at war with
the very elements of its own existence. Such cases are
hopeless. As men may be protected against murder, but
cannot be guarded against suicide, so government may be

154 CONSTITUTIONAL. TEXT BOOK.

shielded from the assaults of external foes, but nothing can
save it when it chooses to lay violent hands on itself.

Finally, Gentlemen, there vk^as in the breast of Washing-
ton one sentiment so deeply felt, so constantly uppermost,
that no proper occasion escaped without its utterance. From
the letter which he signed in behalf of the Convention when
the Constitution was sent out to the people, to the moment
when he put his hand to that last paper in which he ad-
dressed his countrymen, the Union — the Union was the
great object of his thoughts. In that first letter he tells
them that, to him and his brethren of the Convention, union
appears to be the greatest interest of every true American ;
and in that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity
of government which constitutes them one people as the
very palladium of their prosperity and safety, and the secu-
rity of liberty itself He regarded the union of these States
less as one of our blessings, than as the great treasure house
which contained them all. Here, in his judgment, was the
great magazine of all our means of prosperity ; here, as he
thought, and as every true American still thinks, are de-
posited all our animating prospects, all our solid hopes for
future greatness. He has taught us to maintain this union,
not by seeking to enlarge the powers of the government, on
the one hand, nor by surrendering them, on the other ; but
by an administration of them at once firm and moderate,
pursuing objects truly national, and carried on in a spirit of
justice and equity.

The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the Union,
at all times manifested by him, shows not only the opinion
he entertained of its importance, but his clear perception of
those causes which were likely to spring up to endanger it,
and which, if once they should overthrow the present sys-
tem, would leave little hope of any future beneficial reunion.
Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous man, tha*
is one of the rashest which looks for repeated and favorable
opportunities for the deliberate establishment of a united
government over distinct and widely-extended communities.
Such a thing has happened once in human affairs, and but
once ; the event stands out as a prominent exception to all

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 155

ordinary history ; and unless we suppose ourselves running
into an age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition.

Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard,
nothing as of paramount political interest, but the integrity
of tlie Union itself. With a united government, well ad-
ministered, he saw that we had nothing to fear ; and without
it, nothing to hope. The sentiment is just, and its moment-
ous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. If
we might regard our country as personated in the spirit of
Washington, if we might consider him as representing her,
in her past renown, her present prosperity, and her future
career, and as in that character demanding of us all to ac-
count for our conduct, as political men or as private citizens,
how should he answer him who has ventured to talk of dis-
union and dismemberment ? Or how should he answer hira
who dwells perpetually on local interests, and fans every
kindling flame of local prejudice 1 How should he answer
him who would array State against State, interest against in-
terest, and party against party, careless of the continuance
of that unit!/ of government which constitutes us one people ?

The political prosperity which this country has attained,
and which it now enjoys, has been acquired mainly through
the instrumentality of the present government. While this
agent continues, the capacity of attaining to still higher de-
grees of prosperity exists also. We have, while this lasts,
a political life capable of beneficial exertion, with power to
resist or overcome misfortunes, to sustain us against the
ordinary accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by
active efforts, every public interest. But dismemberment
strikes at the very being which preserves these faculties. It
would lay its rude and ruthless hand on this great agent
itself It would sweep away, not only what we possess, but
all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions.
It would leave the country, not only bereft of its prosperity
and happiness, but without hmbs, or organs, or faculties, b)
which to exert itself hereafter in the pursuit of that pros-
perity and happiness.

Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects over-
come. If disastrous war should sweep our commerce from

156 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the ocean, another generation may renew it ; if it exhaust
our treasury, future industry may replenish it ; if it desolate
and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, the}*
will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It
were but a trifle even if the walls of yonder Capitol were to
crumble, if its lofty pillars should fall, and its gorgeous
decorations be all covered by the dust of the valley. All
these might be rebuilt. But who shall reconstruct the fabric
of demolished government 1 Who shall rear again the
well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty ? Who
shall frame together the skilful architecture which unites
national sovereignty with State rights, individual security,
and public prosperity ? No, if these columns fall, they will
be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and the Parthenon,
they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy immor-
tality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them, than
were ever shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian
art; for they will be the remnants of a more glorious edifice
than Greece or Rome ever saw, the edifice of constitutional
American liberty.

But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that
gracious Being who has hitherto held our country as in the
hollow of his hand. Let us trust to the virtue and the intelli-
gence of the people, and to the eflicacy of religious obliga-
tion. Let us trust to the influence of Washington's ex-
ample. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven which expels
all other fear, and that regard to duty which transcends all
other regard, may influence public men and private citizens,
and lead our country still onward in her happy career. Full
of these gratifying anticipations and hopes, let us look for-
ward to the end of that century which is now commenced.
A hundred years hence, other disciples of Washington will
celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere admiration than
we now commemorate it. When they shall meet, as we
now meet, to do themselves and him that honor, so surely
as they shall see the blue summits of his native mountains
rise in the horizon, so surely as they shall behold the river
on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he rests, still
flowing, on toward the sea, so surely may they see, as we

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 157

now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the
Capitol ; and then, as now, may the sun in his course visit no
land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own
country !

Gentlemen, I propose — " The Memory of George
Washington."

the constitution not a compact between sovereign

states.

speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 16th of February, 1833, in
Reply to Mr. Calhoun's Speech, on the Bill ^'^ further to provide for Hie Collection of
Duties on Imports.''^

On the 21st of January, 1833, Mr. Wilkins, Chairman of the Judi-
ciary Committee of the Senate, introduced the bill further to provide for
the collection of duties. On the 22d day of the same month, Mr. Cal-
houn submitted three resolutions, and on Saturday, the 16th of Feb-
ruary, he spoke in opposition to the bill, and in support of his resolu-
tions.

He was followed by Mr. Webster.

Mr. President, — The gentleman from South Carolina
has admonished us to be mindful of the opinions of those
who shall come after us. We must take our chance. Sir,
as to the light in which posterity will regard us. I do not
decline its judgment, nor withhold myself from its scrutiny.
FeeHng that I am performing my public duty with single-
ness of heart and to the best of my ability, I fearlessly trust
myself to the country, now and hereafter, and leave both
my motives and my character to its decision.

The gentleman has terminated his speech in a tone of
threat and defiance towards this bill, even should it be-
come a law of the land, altogether unusual in the halls of
Congress. But I shall not suffer myself to be excited into
warmth by his denunciation of the measure which I sup-
port. Among the feelings which at this moment fill my
breast, not the least is that of regret at the position in
which the gentleman has placed himself Sir, he does him-
self no justice. The cause which he has espoused finds no
basis in the Constitution, no succor from public sympathy,
no cheering from a patriotic community. He has no foot-

158 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK

hold on which to stand while he might display the powers
of his acknowledged talents. Every thing beneath his feet
is hollow and treacherous. He is like a strong man strug-
gling in a morass; every effort to extricate himself only
sinks him deeper and deeper. And I fear the resemblance
may be carried still further ; I fear that no friend can safely
come to his relief, that no one can approach near enough to
hold out a helping hand, without danger of going down
himself, also, into the bottomless depths of this Serbonian
bog.

The honorable gentleman has declared, that on the decis-
ion of the question now in debate may depend the cause of
liberty itself. I am of the same opinion ; but then, Sir, the
liberty which I think is staked on the contest is not political
liberty, in any general and undefined character, but our own
well-understood and long-enjoyed American liberty.

Sir, 1 love Liberty no less ardently than the gentleman
himself, in whatever form she may have appeared in the
progress of human history. As exhibited in the master
states of antiquity, as breaking out again from amidst the
darkness of the Middle Ages, and beaming on the forma-
tion of new communities in modern Europe, she has, al-
ways and every where, charms for me. Yet, Sir, it is our
own liberty, guarded by constitutions and secured by union,
it is that liberty which is our paternal inheritance, it is our
established, dear-bought, peculiar American liberty, to which
I am chiefly devoted, and the cause of which I now mean,
to the utmost of my power, to maintain and defend.

Mr. President, if I considered the constitutional question
now before us as doubtful as it is important, and if I sup-
posed that its decision, either in the Senate or by the coun-
try, was likely to be in any degree influenced by the manner
in which I might now discuss it, this would be to me a
moment of deep soUcitude. Such a moment has once
existed. There has been a time, when, rising in this place,
on the same question, I felt, 1 must confess, that something
for good or evil to the Constitution of the country might
depend on an effort of mine. But circumstances are
changed. Since that day, Sir, the public opinion has

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 159

become awakened to this great question ; it has grasped it ;
it has reasoned upon it, as becomes an intelligent and patri-
otic community, and has settled it, or now seems in the
progress of settling it, by an authority which none can dis-
obey, the authority of the people themselves.

I shall not, Mr. President, follow the gentleman, step by
step, through the course of his speech. Much of what he
has said he has deemed necessary to the just explanation
and defence of his own political character and conduct. On
this I shall offer no comment. Much, too, has consisted of
philosophical remark upon the general nature of political
liberty, and the history of free institutions ; and upon other
topics, so general in their nature as to possess, in my opin-
ion, only a remote bearing on the immediate subject of this
debate.

But the gentleman's speech made some days ago, upon
introducing his resolutions, those resolutions themselves, and
parts of the speech now just concluded, may, I presume, be
justly regarded as containing the whole South Carolina doc-
trine. That doctrine it is my purpose now to examine, and
to compare it with the Constitution of the United States. I
shall not consent. Sir, to make any new constitution, or to
establish another form of government. I will not undertake
to say what a constitution for these United States ought to
be. That question the people have decided for themselves ;
and I shall take the instrument as they have established it,
and shall endeavor to maintain it, in its plain sense and
meaning, against opinions and notions which, in my judg-
ment, threaten its subversion.

The resolutions introduced by the gentleman were appar-
ently drawn up with care, and brought forward upon delib-
eration. I shall not be in danger, therefore, of misunder-
standing him, or those who agree with him, if I proceed at
( nee to these resolutions, and consider them as an authentic
statement of those opinions upon the great constitutional
ruestion, by which the recent proceedings in South Carohna
are attempted to be justified.

These resolutions are three in number.

The third seems intended to enumerate, and to deny, the

160 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

several opinions expressed in the President's proclamation,
respecting the nature and powers of this government. Of
this third resolution, I purpose, at present, to take no par-
ticular notice.

The first two resolutions of the honorable member affirm
these propositions, viz. : —

1. That the political system under which we live, and
under which Congress is now assembled, is a compact., to
which the people of the several States, as separate and sov-
ereign communities, are the parties.

2. That these sovereign parties have a right to judge,
each for itself, of any alleged violation of the Constitution
by Congress ; and, in case of such violation, to choose, each
for itself, its own mode and measure of redress.

It is true. Sir, that the honorable member calls this a
«' constitutional " compact ; but still he affirms it to be a
compact between sovereign States. What precise meaning,
then, does he attach to the term constitutional? When
applied to compacts between sovereign States, the term con-
stitutional affixes to the word compact no definite idea.
Were we to hear of a constitutional league or treaty
between England and France, or a constitutional convention
between Austria and Russia, we should not understand what
could be intended by such a league, such a treaty, or such a
convention. In these connections, the word is void of all
meaning ; and yet. Sir, it is easy, quite easy, to see why
the honorable gentleman has used it in these resolutions.
He cannot open the book, and look upon our written frame
of government, without seeing that it is called a constitution.
This may well be appalhng to him. It threatens his whole
doctrine of compact, and its darUng derivatives, nullification
and secession, with instant confutation. Because, if he
admits our instrument of government to be a constitution,
then, for that very reason, it is not a compact between sov-
ereigns ; a constitution of government and a compact be-
tween sovereign powers being things essentially unfike
in their very natures, and incapable of ever being the
same. Yet the word constitution is on the very front of the
instrument. He cannot overlook it. He seeks, therefore,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 161

to compromise the matter, and to sink all the substantial
sense of the word, while he retains a resemblance of its
sound. He introduces a new word of his own, viz., compact^
as importing" the principal idea, and designed to play the
principal part, and deg^rades constitution into an insignificant,
idle epithet, attached to compact. The whole then stands as
a ''^ constitutional compact ! ^^ And in this way he hopes to
pass off a plausible gloss, as satisfying the words of the
instrument. But he will find himself disappointed. Sir, I
must say to the honorable gentleman, that, in our American
political grammar, constitution is a noun substantive ; it
imports a distinct and clear idea of itself; and it is not to
lose its importance and dignity, it is not to be turned into a
poor, ambiguous, senseless, unmeaning adjective, for the
purpose of accommodating any new set of political notions.
Sir, we reject his new rules of syntax altogether. We will
not give up our forms of political speech to the grammari-
ans of the school of nullification. By the Constitution, we
mean, not a "constitutional compact," but, simply and
directly the Constitution, the fundamental law ; and if there
be one word in the language which the people of the United
States understand, this is that word. We know no more of
a constitutional compact between sovereign powers, than we
know of a constitutional indenture of copartnership, a consti-
tutional deed of conveyance, or a constitutional bill of ex-
change. But we know what the Constitution is ; we know
what the plainly written, fundamental law is ; we know
what the bond of our Union and the security of our liber-
ties is ; and we mean to maintain and to defend it, in its plaia
sense and unsophisticated meaning.

The sense of the gentleman's proposition, therefore, is
not at all affected, one way or the other, by the use of this
word. That proposition still is, that our system of govern-
ment is but a compact between the people of separate and
sovereign States.

Was it Mirabeau, Mr. President, or some other master
of the human passions, who has told us that words are
things 1 They are indeed things, and things of mighty influ-
ence, not only in addresses to the passions and high-wrought
11

I^ CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

feelings of mankind, but in the discussion of legal and polit-
ical questions also ; because a just conclusion is often avoid-
ed, or a false one reached, by the adroit substitution of one
phrase, or one word, for another. Of this we have, I think,
another example in the resolutions before us.

The first resolution declares that the people of the sev-
eral States '''■ acceded^^ to the Constitution, or to the consti-
tutional compact, as it is called. This word "accede," not
found either in the Constitution itself, or in the ratification
of it by any one of the States, has been chosen for use
here, doubtless, not without a well-considered purpose.

The natural converse of accession is secession; and, there-
fore, when it is stated that the people of the States acceded
to the Union, it may be more plausibly argued that they may
secede from it. If, in adopting the Constitution, nothing
was done but acceding to a compact, nothing would seem
necessary, in order to break it up, but to secede from the
same compact. But the term is wholly out of place. Ac-
cession^ as a word applied to political associations, implies
coming into a league, treaty, or confederacy, by one hitherto
a stranger to it ; and secession implies departing from such
league or confederacy. The people of the United States
have used no such form of expression in establishing the
present government. They do not say that they accede to a
league, but they declare that they ordain and establish a Con-
stitution. Such are the very words of the instrument itself;
and in all the States, without an exception, the language
used by their conventions was, that they '-'■ ratified the Con-
stitution ; " some of them employing the additional words
»' assented to " and " adopted," but all of them " ratifying."

Therefore, Sir, since any State, before she can prove her
right to dissolve the Union, must show her authority to undo
what has been done, no State is at liberty to secede^ on the
ground that she and other States have done nothing but
accede. She must show that she has a right to reverse what
has been ordained, to unsettle and overthrow what has been
established, to reject what the people have adopted, and to
break up what they have ratified; because these are the
terms which express the transactions which have actually

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 163

taken place. In other words, she must show her right to
make a revolution.

The Constitution does not provide for events which must
be preceded by its own destruction. Secession, therefore,
since it must bring these consequences with it, is revolu-
tionary, and nullification is equally revolutionary.
What is revolution ? Why, Sir, that is revolution which
overturns, or controls, or successfully resists, the existing
public authority ; that which arrests the exercise of the su-
preme power ; that which introduces a new paramount
authority into the rule of the State. Now, Sir, this is the
precise object of nullification. It attempts to supersede the
supreme legislative authority. It arrests the arm of the
executive magistrate. It interrupts the exercise of the ac-
customed judicial power. Under the name of an ordinance,
it declares null and void, within the State, all the revenue
laws of the United States. Is not this revolutionarv ? Sir,
so soon as this ordinance shall be carried into effect, a revo^
lution will have commenced in South Carolina. She will
have thrown off the authority to which her citizens have
lieretofore been subject. She will have declared her own
opinions and her own will to be above the laws and above
the power of those who are intrusted with their administra-
tion. If she makes good these declarations, she is revolu-
tionized. As to her, it is as distinctly a change of the
supreme power, as the American Revolution of 1776.
That revolution did not subvert government in all its forms.
It did not subvert local laws and municipal administrations.
It only threw off the dominion of a power claiming to be
superior, and to have a right, in many important respects, to
exercise legislative authority. Thinking this authority to
have been usurped or abused, the American Colonies, now
the United States, bade it defiance, and freed themselves
from it by means of a revolution. But that revolution left
them with their own municipal laws still, and the forms of
local government. If Carolina now shall effectually resist
the laws of Congress ; if she shall be her own judge, take
her remedy into her own hands, obey the laws of the Union
when she pleases and disobey them when she pleases, she

164 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

will relieve herself from a paramount power as distinctly as
the American Colonies did the same thing in 1776. In
other words, she will achieve, as to herself, a revolution.

But, Sir, while practical nullification in South Carolina
would be, as to herself, actual and distinct revolution, its
necessary tendency must also be to spread revolution, and to
break up the Constitution, as to all the other States. It
strikes a deadly blow at the vital principle of the whole
Union. To allow State resistance to the laws of Congress
to be rightful and proper, to admit nulhfication in some
States, and yet not expect to see a dismemberment of the
entire government, appears to me the wildest illusion, and
the most extravagant folly. The gentleman seems not con-
scious of the direction or the rapidity of his own course.
The current of his opinions sweeps him along, he knows
not whither. To begin with nullification, with the avowed
intent, nevertheless, not to proceed to secession, dismember-
ment, and general revolution, is as if one were to take the
plunge of Niagara, and cry out that he would stop half way
down. In the one case, as in the other, the rash adventurer
must go to the bottom of the dark abyss below, were it not
that that abyss has no discovered bottom.

Such, Sir, are the inevitable results of this doctrine.
Beginning with the original error, that the Constitution of
the United States is nothing but a compact between sover-
eign States ; asserting, in the next step, that each State has
a right to be its own sole judge of the extent of its own ob-
ligations, and consequently of the constitutionality of laws of
Congress ; and, in the next, that it may oppose whatever it
sees fit to declare unconstitutional, and that it decides for
itself on the mode and measure of redress, — the argument
arrives at once at the conclusion, that what a State dissents
from, it may nullify ; what it opposes, it may oppose by
force ; what it decides for itself, it may execute by its own
power ; and that, in short, it is itself supreme over the legis-
lation of Congress, and supreme over the decisions of the
national judicature ; supreme over the constitution of the
country, supreme over the supreme law of the land. How-
ever it seeks to protect itself against these plain inferences,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 165

by saying that an unconstitutional law is no law, and that it
only opposes such laws as are unconstitutional, yet this does
not in the slightest degree vary the result ; since it insists on
deciding this question for itself; and, in opposition to reason
and argument, in opposition to practice and experience, in
opposition to the judgment of others, having an equal right
to judge, it says, only, " Such is my opinion, and my opin-
ion shall be my law, and I will support it by my own strong
hand. I denounce the law; I declare it unconstitutional;
that is enough ; it shall not be executed. Men in arms are
ready to resist its execution. An attempt to enforce it shall
cover the land with blood. Elsewhere it may be binding;
but here it is trampled under foot."

This, Sir, is practical nullification.

And now, Sir, against all these theories and opinions, I
maintain, —

1. That the Constitution of the United States is not a
league, confederacy, or compact between the people of the
several States in their sovereign capacities ; but a govern-
ment proper, founded on the adoption of the people, and
creating direct relations between itself and individuals.

2. That no State authority has power to dissolve these
relations ; that nothing can dissolve them but revolution ;
and that, consequently, there can be no such thing as seces-
sion without revolution.

3. That there is a supreme law, consisting of the Con-
stitution of the United States, and acts of Congress passed
in pursuance of it, and treaties ; and that, in cases not
capable of assuming the character of a suit in law or equity.
Congress must judge of, and finally interpret, this supreme
law so often as it has occasion to pass acts of legislation ;
and in cases capable of assuming, and actually assuming,
the character of a suit, the Supreme Court of the United
States is the final interpreter.

4. That an attempt by a State to abrogate, annul, or nul-
lify an act of Congress, or to arrest its operation within her
limits, on the ground that, in her opinion, such law is un-
constitutional, is a direct usurpation on the just powers of
the general government, and on the equal rights of other

166 * CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

States ; a plain violation of the Constitution, and a proceed-
ing essentially revolutionary in its character and tendency.

Whether the Constitution be a compact between States in
their sovereign capacities, is a question which must be mainly
argued from what is contained in the instrument itself. We
agree that it is an instrument which has been in some way
clotlied with power. We all admit that it speaks with au-
thority. The first question then is, What does it say of
itself? What does it purport to be ? Does it style itself a
league, confederacy, or compact between sovereign States 1
It is to be remembered. Sir, that the Constitution began to
speak only after its adoption. Until it was ratified by nine
States, it was but a proposal, the mere draught of an instru-
ment. It was like a deed drawn, but not executed. The
Convention had framed it ; sent it to Congress, then sitting
under the Confederation ; Congress had transmitted it to the
State legislatures; and by these last it was laid before con-
ventions of the people in the several States. All this while
it was inoperative paper. It had received no stamp of au-
thority, no sanction ; it spoke no language. But when rati-
fied by the people in their respective conventions, then it had
a voice, and spoke authentically. Every word in it had then
received the sanction of the popular will, and was to be re-
ceived as the expression of that will. What the Constitu-
tion says of itself, therefore, is as conclusive as what it says
on any other point. Does it call itself a " compact " ?
Certainly not. It uses the word compact but once, and that
is when it declares that the States shall enter into no com-
pact. Does it call itself a " league," a " confederacy," a
*' subsisting treaty between the States " ? Certainly not.
There is not a particle of such language in all its pages.
But it declares itself a Constitution. What is a constitu-
tion ? Certainly not a league, compact, or confederacy, but
a fundamental law. That fundamental regulation which de-
termines the manner in which the public authority is to be
executed, is what forms the constitution of a state. Those
primary rules which concern the body itself, and the very
being of the political society, the form of government, and
the manner in wliich power is to be exercised, — all, in a

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 167

word, which form together the constitution of a stnte^ —
these are the fundamental laws. This, Sir, is the language
of the public writers. But do we need to be informed, in
this country, what a constitution is 1 Is it not an idea per-
fectly famihar, definite, and well settled 1 We are at no
loss to understand what is meant by the constitution of one
of the States ; and the Constitution of the United States
speaks of itself as being an instrument of the same nature.
It says, this Constitution shall be the law of the land, any
thing in any State constitution to the contrary notwithstand-
ing. And it speaks of itself, too, in plain contradistinction
from a confederation ; for it says that all debts contracted,
and all engagements entered into, by the United States, shall
be as valid under this Constitution as under the Confedera-
tion. It does not say, as valid under this compact, or this
league, or this confederation, as under the former confedera-
tion, but as valid under this Constitution,

It appears to me, Mr. President, that the plainest account
of the establishment of this government presents the most
just and philosophical view of its foundation. The people
of the several States had their separate State governments ;
and between the States there also existed a Confederation.
With this condition of things the people were not satisfied,
as the Confederation had been found not to fulfil its intended
objects. It was proposed, therefore, to erect a new, common
government, which should possess certain definite powers,
such as regarded the prosperity of the people of all the
States, and to be formed upon the general model of Ameri-
can constitutions. This proposal was assented to, and an
instrument was presented to the people of the several States
for their consideration. They approved it, and agreed to
adopt it, as a Constitution. They executed that agreement ;
they adopted the Constitution as a Constitution, and hence-
forth it must stand as a Constitution until it shall be alto-
gether destroyed. Now, Sir, is not this the truth of the
whole matter ? And is not all that we have heard of com-
pact between sovereign States the mere effect of a theoreti-
cal and artificial mode of reasoning upon the subject 1 a
mode of reasoning which disregards plain facts for the sake
of hypothesis ?

168 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The Constitution of the United States creates direct re-
lations between this g^overnment and individuals. This gov-
ernment may punish individuals for treason, and all other
crimes in the code, when committed against the United
States. It has power, also, to tax individuals, in any mode,
and to any extent ; and it possesses the further power of
demanding from individuals mihtary service. Nothing, cer-
tainly, can more clearly distinguish a government from a
confederation of states than the possession of these powers.
No closer relations can exist between individuals and any
government.

On the other hand, the government owes high and solemn
duties to every citizen of the country. It is bound to protect
him in his most important rights and interests. It makes
war for his protection, and no other government in the
country can make war. It makes peace for his protection,
and no other government can make peace. It maintains
armies and navies for his defence and security, and no
other government is allowed to maintain them. He goes
abroad beneath its flag, and carries over all the earth a
national character imparted to him by this government, and
which no other government can impart. In whatever re-
lates to war, to peace, to commerce, he knows no other
government. AH these. Sir, are connections as dear and as
sacred as can bind individuals to any government on earth.
It is not, therefore, a compact between States, but a gov-
ernment proper, operating directly upon individuals, yield-
ing to them protection on the one hand, and demanding
from them obedience on the other.

The truth is, Mr. President, and no ingenuity of argu-
ment, no subtilty of distinction can evade it, that, as to cer-
tain purposes, the people of the United States are one peo-
ple. They are one in making war, and one in making
peace ; they are one in regulating commerce, and one in
laying duties of imposts. The very end and purpose of the
Constitution was, to make them one people in these particu-
lars; audit has effectually accomplished its object. All this
is apparent on the face of the Constitution itself. I have
already said, Sir, that to obtain a power of direct legislation

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 169

over the people, especially in regard to imposts, was always
prominent as a reason for getting rid of the Confederation,
and forming a new Constitution.

Among all the ratifications, there is not one which speaks
of the Constitution as a compact between States. Those of
Massachusetts and New Hampshire express the transaction,
in my opinion, with sufficient accuracy. They recognize
the Divine goodness " in affording the people of the
United States an opportunity of entering into an explicit
and solemn compact with each other, hy assenting to and
ratifying a new Constitution^ You will observe, Sir, that
it is the PEOPLE, and not the States, who have entered into
this compact ; and it is the people of all the United States.
These conventions^, by this form of expression, meant merely
to say, that the people of the United States had, by the bless-
ing of Providence, enjoyed the opportunity of establishing a
new Constitution, founded in the consent of the people. This
consent of the people has been called, by European writers,
the social compact ; and, in conformity to this common mode
of expression, these conventions speak of that assent, on
which the new Constitution was to rest, as an explicit and
solemn compact, not which the States had entered into with
each other, but which the people of the United States had
entered into.

Finally, Sir, how can any man get over the words of the
Constitution itself ? — "We, the people of the United
States, do ordain and establish this Constitution."
These words must cease to be a part of the Constitution,
they must be obliterated from the parchment on which they
are vk^ritten, before any human ingenuity or human argument
can remove the popular basis on which that Constitution rests,
and turn the instrument into a mere compact between sov-
ereign States.

The second proposition. Sir, which I propose to maintain,
is, that no State authority can dissolve the relations subsist-
ing between the government of the United States and indi-
viduals ; that nothing can dissolve these relations but revo-
lution ; and that, therefore, there can be no such thing as
secession without revolution. All this follows, as it seems to

170 CONSTITUTIONAL. TEXT BOOK.

me, as a just consequence, if it be first proved that the Con-
stitution of the United States is a government proper, owing
protection to individuals, and entitled to their obedience.

The people. Sir, in every State, live under two govern-
ments. They owe obedience to both. These governments,
though distinct, are not adverse. Each has its separate
sphere, and its peculiar powers and duties. It is not a con-
test between two sovereigns for the same power, like the
wars of the rival houses in England ; nor is it a dispute be-
tween a government de facto and a government dc jure. It
is the case of a division of powers between two govern-
ments, made by the people, to whom both are responsible.
Neither can dispense with the duty which individuals owe to
the other; neither can call itself master *of the other: the
people are masters of both. This division of power, it is
true, is in a great measure unknown in Europe. It is the
peculiar system of America ; and, though new and singular,
it is not incomprehensible. The State constitutions are es-
tablished by the people of the States. This Constitution is
established by the people of all the States. How, then, can
a State secede 1 How can a State undo what the whole
people have done 1 How can she absolve her citizens from
their obedience to the laws of the United States 1 How can
she annul their obhgations and oaths 1 How can the mem-
bers of her legislature renounce their own oaths 1 Sir, seces-
sion as a revolutionary right, is intelligible ; as a right to be
proclaimed in the midst of civil commotions, and asserted at
the head of armies, I can understand it. But as a practical
right, existing under the Constitution, and in conformity
with its provisions, it seems to me to be nothing but a plain
absurdity ; for it supposes resistance to government, under
the authority of government itself; it supposes dismember-
ment, without violating the principles of union ; it supposes
opposition to law, without crime ; it supposes the violation
of oaths, without responsibility ; it supposes the total over-
throw of government, without revolution.

The Constitution, Sir, regards itself as perpetual and im-
mortal. It seeks to establish a union among the people of
the States, which shall last through all time. Or, if the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. I7t

common fate of things human must be expected at some
period to happen to it, yet that catastrophe is not an-
ticipated.

The instrument contains ample provisions for its amend-
ment, at all times ; none for its abandonment, at any time.
It declares that new States may come into the Union, but it
does not declare that old States may go out. The Union is
not a temporary partnership of States. It is the association
of the people, under a constitution of government, uniting
their power, joining together their highest interests, cement-
ing their present enjoyments, and blending, in one indivisible
mass, all their hopes for the future. Whatsoever is stead-
fast in just political principles ; whatsoever is permanent in
the structure of human society ; whatsoever there is which
can derive an enduring character from being founded on
deep-laid principles of constitutional liberty and on the broad
foundations of the public will, — all these unite to entitle
this instrument to be regarded as a permanent constitution
of government. In the next place, Mr. President, I con-
tend that there is a supreme law of the land, consisting of
the Constitution, acts of Congress passed in pursuance of it,
and the public treaties. This will not be denied, because
such are the very words of the Constitution. But I contend,
further, that it rightfully belongs to Congress, and to the
courts of the United States, to settle the construction of this
supreme law, in doubtful cases. This is denied ; and here
arises the great practical question, JV/io is to construe Jinally
the Constitution of the United States 7 We all agree that the
Constitution is the supreme law ; but who shall interpret
that law 1 In our system of the division of powers between
different governments, controversies will necessarily some-
times arise, respecting the extent of the powers of each.
Who shall decide these controversies ? Does it rest with
the general government, in all or any of its departments, to
exercise the office of final interpreter 1 Or may each of
the States, as well as the general government, claim this
right of ultimate decision 1 The practical result of this
whole debate turns on this point. The gentleman contends
that each State may judge for itself of any alleged violation of

172 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the Constitution, and may finally decide for itself, and may
execute its own decisions by its own power. All the recent
proceedings in South Carolina are founded on this claim of
right. ■ Her convention has pronounced the revenue laws of
the United States unconstitutional ; and this decision she
does not allow any authority of the United States to over-
rule or reverse. Of course she rejects the authority of
Congress, because the very object of the ordinance is to
reverse the decision of Congress ; and she rejects, too, the
authority of the courts of the United States, because she
expressly prohibits all appeal to those courts. It is in order
to sustain this asserted right of being her own judge, that
she pronounces the, Constitution of the United States to be
but a compact, to which she is a party, and a sovereign
party. If this be established, then the inference is supposed
to follow, that, being sovereign, there is no power to control
her decision ; and her own judgment on her own compact
is, and must be, conclusive.

I have already endeavored. Sir, to point out the practical
consequences of this doctrine, and to show how utterly
inconsistent it is with all ideas of regular government, and
how soon its adoption would involve the whole country in
revolution and absolute anarchy. I hope it is easy now to
show. Sir, that a doctrine bringing such consequences with
it is not well founded ; that it has nothing^to stand on but
theory and assumption ; and that it is refuted by plain and
express constitutional provisions. I think the government
of the United States does possess, in its appropriate depart-
ments, the authority of final decision on questions of dis-
puted power. I think it possesses this authority, both by
necessary implication and by express grant.

It will not be denied. Sir, that this authority naturally be-
longs to all governments. They all exercise, it from neces-
sity, and as a consequence of the exercise of other powers.
The State governments themselves possess it, except in that
class of questions which may arise between them and the
general government, and in regard to which they have sur-
rendered it, as well by the nature of the case as by clear
constitutional provisions. In other and ordinary cases,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 173

whether a particular law be in conformity to the constitution
of the State is a question which the State legislature or the
State judiciary must determine. We all know that these
questions arise daily in the State governments, and are
decided by those governments ; and I know no government
which does not exercise a similar power.

Upon general principles, then, the government of the
United States possesses this authority ; and this would hardly
be denied were it not that there are other governments. But
since there are State governments, and since these, like
other governments, ordinarily construe their own powers, if
the government of the United States construes its own pow-
ers also, which construction is to prevail in the case of oppo-
site constructions ? And again, as in the case now actually
before us, the State governments may undertake, not only to
construe their own powers, but to decide directly on tlie
extent of the powers of Congress. Congress has passed a
law as being within its just powers ; South Carolina denies
that this law is within its just powers, and insists that she
has the right so to decide this point, and that her decision is
final. How are these questions to be settled 1

In my opinion, Sir, even if the Constitution of the United
States had made no express provision for such cases, it
would yet be difficult to maintain, that, in a Constitution
existing over four and twenty States, with equal authority
over all, one could claim a right of construing it for the
whole. This would seem a manifest impropriety; indeed,
an absurdity. If the Constitution is a government existing
over all the States, though with limited powers, it necessa-
rily follows that, to the extent of those powers, it must be
supreme. If it be not superior to the authority of a partic-
ular State, it is not a national government. But as it is a
government, as it has a legislative power of its own, and a
judicial power coextensive with the legislative, the inference
is irresistible that this government, thus created 63/ the
whole mid for the whole, must have an authority superior to
that of the particular government of any one part. Con-
gress is the legislature of all the people of the United
States ; the judiciary of the general government is the judi-

174 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ciary of all the people of the United States. To hold,
therefore, that this legislature and this judiciary are subordi-
nate in authority to the legislature and judiciary of a single
State, is doing violence to all common sense, and overturn-
ing all established principles. Congress must judge of the
extent of its own powers so often as it is called on to exer-
cise them, or it cannot act at all ; and it must also act inde-
pendent of State control, or it cannot act at all.

The right of State interposition strikes at the very foun-
dation of the legislative power of Congress. It possesses
no effective legislative power, if such right of State interpo-
sition exists ; because it can pass no law not subject to abro-
gation. It cannot make laws for the Union, if any part of
the Union may pronounce its enactments void and of no
effect. Its forms of legislation would be an idle ceremony,
if, after all, any one of four and twenty States might bid
defiance to its authority. Without express provision in the
Constitution, therefore. Sir, this whole question is necessa-
rily decided by those provisions which create a legislative
power and a judicial power. If these exist in a government
intended for the whole, the inevitable consequence is, that
the laws of this legislative power and the decisions of this
judicial power must be binding on and over the whole. No
man can form the conception of a government existing over
four and twenty States, with a regular legislative and judi-
cial power, and of the existence at the same time of an
authority, residing elsewhere, to resist, at pleasure or dis-
cretion, the enactments and the decisions of such a govern-
ment. I maintain, therefore. Sir, that, from the nature of
the case, and as an inference wholly unavoidable, the acts
of Congress and the decisions of the national courts must
be of higher authority than State laws and State decisions.
If this be not so, there is, there can be, no general govern-
ment.

But, Mr. President, the Constitution has not left this car-
dinal point without full and explicit provisions. First, as to
the authority of Congress. Having enumerated the specific
powers conferred on Congress, the Constitution adds, as a
distinct and substantive clause, the following, viz. : " To

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 175

make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carry-
ing into execution the foregoing powers, and all other pow-
ers vested by this Constitution in the government of the
United States, or in any department or officer thereof." If
this means any thing, it means that Congress may judge of
the triie extent and just interpretation of the specific powers
granted to it, and may judge also of what is necessary and
proper for executing those powers. If Congress is to judge
of what is necessary for the execution of its powers, it must,
of necessity, judge of the extent and interpretation of those
powers.

And in regard, Sir, to the judiciary, the Constitution is
still more express and emphatic. It declares that the judi-
cial power shall extend to all cases in law or equity arising
under the Constitution, laws of the United States, and trea-
ties; that there shall be one Supreme Court, and that this
Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction of all these
cases, subject to such exceptions as Congress may make.
It is impossible to escape from the generality of these
words. If a case arises under the Constitution, that is, if a
case arises depending on the construction of the Constitu-
tion, the judicial power of the United States extends to it.
It reaches the case, the question; it attaches the power of the
national judicature to the case itself, in whatever court it
may arise or exist; and in this case the Supreme Court has
appellate jurisdiction over all courts whatever. No language
could provide with more effect and precision than is here
done, for subjecting constitutional questions to the ultimate
decision of the Supreme Court. And, Sir, this is exactly
what the Convention found it necessary to provide for, and
intended to provide for. It is, too, exactly what the peo-
ple were universally told was done when they adopted the
Constitution. One of the first resolutions adopted by the
Convention was in these words, viz. : " That the jurisdiction
of the national judiciary shall extend to cases which respect
the collection of the national revenue, and questions which
involve the national peace and harmony." Now, Sir, this
either had no sensible meaning at all, or else it meant that

176 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the jurisdiction of the national judiciary should extend to
these questions, with a paramount authority.

But, Sir, I hold South Carolina to her ancient, her cool,
her uninfluenced, her deliberate opinions. I hold her to her
own admissions, nay, to her own claims and pretensions, in
1789, in the first Congress, and to her acknowledgments and
avowed sentiments through a long series of succeeding
years. I hold her to the principles on which she led Con-
gress to act in 1816 ; or, if she have changed her own opin-
ions, 1 claim some respect for those who still retain the
same opinions. I say she is precluded from asserting that
doctrines, which she has herself so long and so ably sus-
tained, are plain, palpable, and dangerous violations of the
Constitution.

Mr. President, if the friends of nullification should be
able to propagate their opinions, and give them practical
effect, they would, in my judgment, prove themselves the
most skilful " architects of ruin," the most effectual extin-
guishers of high-raised expectation, the greatest blasters of
human hopes, that any age has produced. They would
stand up to proclaim, in tones which would pierce the ears
of half the human race, that the last great experiment of
representative government had failed. They would send
forth sounds, at the hearing of which the doctrine of the
divine right of kings would feel, even in its grave, a return-
ing sensation of vitality and resuscitation. Millions of eyes,
of those who now feed their inherent love of liberty on the
success of the American example, would turn away from
beholding our dismemberment, and find no place on earth
whereon to rest their gratified sight. Amidst the incanta-
tions and orgies of nullification, secession, disunion, and rev-
olution, would be celebrated the funeral rites of constitu-
tional and republican liberty.

But, Sir, if the government do its. duty, if it act with
firmness and with moderation, these opinions cannot prevail.
Be assured, Sir, be assured, that, among the political senti-
ments of this people, the love of union is still uppermost.
They will stand fast by the Constitution, and by those who

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 177

defend it. I rely on no temporary expedients, on no politi-
cal combination ; but I rely on the true American feeling,
the genuine patriotism of the people, and the imperative
decision of the public voice. Disorder and confusion, in-
deed, may arise ; scenes of commotion and contest are
threatened, and perhaps may come. With my whole heart,
I pray for the continuance of the domestic peace and quiet
of the country. I desire, most ardently, the restoration of
affection and harmony to all its parts. I desire that every
citizen of the whole country may look to this government
with no other sentiments than those of grateful respect and
attachment. But I cannot yield even to kind feelings the
cause of the Constitution, the true glory of the country, and
the great trust which we hold in our hands for succeeding
ages. If the Constitution cannot be maintained without
meeting these scenes of commotion and contest, however
unwelcome, they must come. We cannot, we must not, we
dare not, omit to do that which, in our judgment, the safety
of the Union requires. Not regardless of consequences, we
must yet meet consequences ; seeing the hazards which sur-
round the discharge of public duty, it must yet be dis-
charged. For myself. Sir, I shun no responsibility justly
devolving on me, here or elsewhere, in attempting to main-
tain the cause. I am bound to it by indissoluble ties of
affection and duty, and I shall cheerfully partake in its for-
tunes and its fate. I am ready to perform my own appro-
priate part, whenever and wherever the occasion may call
on me, and to take my chance among those upon whom
blows may fall first and fall thickest. I shall exert every
faculty I possess in aiding to prevent the Constitution from
being nullified, destroyed, or impaired ; and even should I
see it fall, I will still, with a voice feeble, perhaps, but ear-
nest as ever issued from human lips, and with fidelity and
zeal which nothing shall extinguish, call on the PEOPLE to
come to its rescue.
12

178 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

RECEPTION AT BUFFALO, N. Y.

Remarks made to the Citizens of Buffalo, June, 1833.

In the summer of 1833, Mr. Webster made a visit to the State of Ohio.
On his way thither, while at Buffalo, New York, he was invited by th«
citizens of that place to attend a public dinner, which his engagements,
and the necessity of an early departure, Compelled him to decline. He
accepted, however, an invitation to be present at the launching of a
steamboat, to which the proprietors had given the name of Daniel
Webster, and, in reply to an address from one of them, made the
following remarks : —

I AVAIL myself gladly of this opportunity of making my
acknowledgments to the proprietors of this vessel, for the
honor conferred upon me by allowing her to bear my name.
Such a token of regard, had it proceeded from my imme-
diate friends and neighbors, could not but have excited
feelings of gratitude. It is more calculated to awaken these
sentiments, when coming from gentlemen of character and
worth with whom I have not had the pleasure of personal
acquaintance, and whose motive, I may flatter myself, is to
be found in an indulgent opinion towards well-intentioned
services in a public situation.

It gives me great pleasure also, on the occasion of so
large an assembly of the people of Buffalo, to express to
them my thanks for the kindness and hospitality with which
I have been received in this young, but growing and inter-
esting city. The launching of another vessel on these inland
seas is but a fresh occasion of congratulation on the rapid
growth, the great active prosperity, and the animating pros-
pects of this city. Eight years ago, fellow-citizens, I enjoyed
the pleasure of a short visit to this place. There was then
but one steamboat on Lake Erie ; it made its passage once
in ten or fifteen days only ; and I remember that persons
in my own vicinity, intending to travel to the Far West by
that conveyance, wrote to their friends here to learn the
day of the commencement of the contemplated voyage. I
understand that there are now eighteen steamboats plying
on the lake, all finding full employment ; and that a boat
leaves Buffalo twice every day for Detroit and the ports irj

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 179

Ohio. The population of 15uffalo, now four times as large
as it was then, has kept pace with the augmentation of its
commercial business. This rapid progress is an indication,
in a single instance, of what is likely to be the rate of the
future progress of the city. So many circumstances incline
to favor its advancen«ent, that it is difficult to estimate the
rate by which it may hereafter proceed. It will probably
not be long before the products of the fisheries of the East,
the importations of the Atlantic frontier, the productions,
mineral and vegetable, of all the North-western States, and
the sugars of Louisiana, will find their way hither by inland
water communication. Much of this, indeed, has already
taken place, and is of daily occurrence. Many, who re-
member the competition between Buffalo and Black Rock
for the site of the city, will doubtless live to see the city
spread over both. This singular prosperity, fellow-citizens,
so gratifying for the present, and accompanied with such
high hopes for the future, is due to your own industry and
enterprise, to your favored position, and to the flourishing
condition of the internal commerce of the country ; and the
blessings and the riches of that internal commerce, be it
ever remembered, are the fruits of a united government, and
one general, common commercial system.

It is not only the trade of New York, of Ohio, of New
England, of Indiana, or of Michigan, but it is a part of the
great aggregate of the trade of all the States, in which you
so largely and so successfully partake. Who does not see
that the advantages here enjoyed spring from a general gov-
ernment and a uniform code 1 Who does not see, that, if
these States had remained severed, and each had existed
with a system of imposts and commercial regulations of its
own, all excluding and repelling, rather than inviting, the
intercourse of the rest, the place could hardly have hoped
to be more than a respectable frontier post 1 Or can any
man look to the one and to the other side of this beautiful
lake and river, and not see, in their different conditions, the
plain and manifest results of different political institutions
and commercial regulations 1

It would be pleasant, fellow-citizens, to dwell on these

180 CONSTITUTIONAL TEX^ BOOK.

topics, SO worthy at all times of regard and reflection ; and
especially so fit to engage attention at the present moment.
But this is not the proper moment to pursue them ; and, ten-
dering to you once more my thanks and good wishes, I take
my leave of you by expressing my hope for the continued
success of that great interest, so essential to your happiness —
The commerce of the Lakes, a new-discovered source
of national prosperity, and a new bond of national

UNION.

An address was also made to Mr. Webster in behalf of the mechanics
and manufacturers of Buffalo, to which he returned the following
reply: —

I NEED hardly say, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, that
it gives me much satisfaction to receive this mark of appro-
bation of my public conduct from the manufacturers and
mechanics of Buffalo. Those who are the most immediate-
ly affected by the measures of the government are naturally
the earliest to perceive their operation, and to foresee their
final results. Allow me to say, Gentlemen, that the confi-
dence expressed by you in my continuance in the general
course which I have pursued must rest, and may rest safely,
I trust, on the history of the past. Desiring always to avoid
extremes, and to observe a prudent moderation in regard to
the protective system, I yet hold steadiness and perseverance,
in maintaining what has been established, to be essential to
the public prosperity. Nothing can be worse than that laws
concerning the daily labor and the daily bread of whole
classes of the people should be subject to frequent and vio-
lent changes. It were far better not to move at all than to
move forward and then fall back again.

My sentiments. Gentlemen, on the tariff question, are
generally known. In my opinion, a just and a leading object
in the whole system is the encouragement and protection of
American manual labor. I confess, that every day's expe-
rience convinces me more and more of the high propriety
of regarding this object. Our government is made for all,
not for a few. Its object is to promote the greatest good
of the whole ; and this ought to be kept constantly in view

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 181

in its administration. The far greater number of those who
maintain the government belong to what may be called the
industrious or productive classes of the community. With
us labor is not depressed, ignorant, and unintelligent. On
the contrary, it is active, spirited, enterprising, seeking
its own rewards, and laying up for its own competence
and its own support. The motive to labor is the great
stimulus to our whole society ; and no system is wise or just
which does not afford this stimulus, as far as it may. The
protection of American labor against the injurious competition
of foreign labor, so far, at least, as respects general handi-
craft productions, is known historically to have been one end
designed to be obtained by establishing the Constitution ;
and this object, and the constitutional power to accomplish it,
ought never in any -degree to be surrendered or compromised.
Our political institutions. Gentlemen, place power in the
hands of all the people ; and to make the exercise of this
power, in such hands, salutary, it is indispensable that all the
people should enjoy, first, the means of education, and,
second, the reasonable certainty of procuring a competent
livelihood by industry and labor. These institutions are
neither designed for, nor suited to, a nation of ignorant pau-
pers. To disseminate knowledge, then, universally, and to
secure to labor and industry their just rewards, is the duty
both of the general and the State governments, each in the
exercise of its appropriate powers. To be free, the people
must be intelligently free ; to be substantially independent,
they must be able to secure themselves against want, by
sobriety and industry ; to be safe depositaries of political
power, they must be able to comprehend and understand the
general interests of the community, and must themselves
liave a stake in the welfare of that community. The inter-
est of labor, therefore, has an importance, in our system,
beyond what belongs to it as a mere question of political
economy. It is connected with our forms of government,
and our whole social system. The activity and prosperity
which at present prevail among us, as every one must notice,
are produced by the excitement of compensating prices to

182 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

labor ; and it is fervently to be hoped that no unpropitious
circumstances and no unwise poHcy may counteract this effi-
cient cause of general competency and public happiness.

EECEPITON AT PITTSBURG.

Address delivered to the Citizens of Pittsburg, Pa., on the 8th of July, 1833.

Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen : — I rise, fellow-citizens,
with unaffected sensibility, to give you my thanks for the
hospitable manner in which you have been kind enough to
receive me, on this my first visit to Pittsburg, and to make
all due acknowledgments to your worthy Mayor for the sen-
timents which he has now seen fit to express.

Although, Gentlemen, it has been my fortune to be per-
sonally acquainted with very few of you, I feel, at this mo-
ment, that we are not strangers. We are fellow-country-
men, fellow-citizens, bound together by a thousand ties of
interest, of sympathy, of duty ; united, I hope I may
add, by bonds of mutual regard. We are bound together,
for good or for evil, in our great political interests. I know
that I am addressing Americans, every one of whom has a
true American heart in his bosom ; and I feel that I have
also an American heart in mi/ bosom. I address you, then,
Gentlemen, with the same fervent good wishes for your hap-
piness, the same brotherly affection, and the same feelings
of regard and esteem, as if, instead of being upon the bor-
ders of the Ohio, I stood by the Connecticut or the Merri-
mack. As citizens, countrymen, and neighbors, I give you
my hearty good wishes, and thank you, over and over again,
for your abundant hospitaUty.

Gentlemen, the Mayor has been pleased to advert, in
terms beyond all expectation or merit of my own, to my
services in defence of the glorious Constitution under which
we live, and which makes you and me all that we are, and
all that we desire to be. He has done much more than jus-
tice to my elibrts ; but he has not overstated the importance
of the occasion on vi^hich those efforts were made.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 183

Gentlemen, it is but a few short months since dark and
portentous clouds did hang over our heavens, and did shut
out, as it were, the sun in his glory. A new and perilous
crisis was upon us. Dangers, novel in their character, and
fearful in their aspect, menaced both the peace of the coun-
try and the integrity of the Constitution. For forty years
our government had gone on, I need hardly say how pros-
perously and gloriously, meeting, it is true, with occasional
dissatisfaction, and, in one or two instances, with ill-concerted
resistance to law. Through all these trials it had success-
fully passed. But now a time had come when the authority
of law was opposed by authority of law, when the power
of the general government was resisted by the arms of State
government, and when organized mihtary force, under all
the sanctions of State conventions and State laws, was ready
to resist the collection of the public revenues, and hurl de-
fiance at the statutes of Congress.

Gentlemen, this was an alarming moment. In common
with all good citizens, I felt it to be such. A general anx-
iety pervaded the breasts of all who were, at home, partak-
ing in the prosperity, honor, and happiness which the coun-
try had enjoyed. And how was it abroad ? Why, Gentle-
men, every intelligent friend of human liberty, throughout
the world, looked with amazement at the spectacle which we
exhibited. In a day of unparalleled prosperity, after a half
century's most happy experience of the blessings of our
Union ; when we had already become the wonder of all the
liberal part of the world, and the envy of the illiberal ;
when the Constitution had so amply falsified the predictions
of its enemies, and more than fulfilled all the hopes of its
friends ; in a time of peace, with an overflowing treasury ;
when both the population and the improvement of the coun-
try had outrun the most sanguine anticipations ; — it was at
this moment that we showed ourselves to the whole civilized
world as being apparently on the eve of disunion and anar-
chy, at the very point of dissolving, once and forever, that
Union which had made us so prosperous and so great. It
was at this moment that those appeared among us who
seemed ready to break up the national Constitution, and to

184 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

scatter the twenty-four States into twenty-four unconnected
communities.

Gentlemen, the President of the United States was, as it
seemed to me, at this eventful crisis, true to his duty. He
comprehended and understood the case, and met it as it was
proper to meet it. While I am as willing as others to ad-
mit that the President has, on other occasions, rendered im-
portant services to the country, and especially on that occa-
sion which has given him so much mihtary renown, I yet
think the ability and decision with which he rejected the
disorganizing doctrines of nullification create a claim, than
which he has none higher, to the gratitude of the country
and the respect of posterity. The appearance of the procla-
mation of the 10th of December inspired me, I confess,
with new hopes for the duration of the republic. I re-
garded it as just, patriotic, able, and imperiously demanded
by the condition of the country. I would not be under-
stood to speak of particular clauses and phrases in the
proclamation ; but I regard its great and leading doctrines
as the true and only true doctrines of the Constitution.
They constitute the sole ground on which dismemberment
can be resisted. Nothing else, in my opinion, can hold us
together. While these opinions are maintained, the Union
will last ; when they shall be generally rejected and aban-
doned, that Union will be at the mercy of a temporary
majority in any one of the States.

1 speak. Gentlemen, on this subject, without reserve. I
have not intended heretofore, and elsewhere, and do not now
intend here, to stint my commendation of the conduct of
the President in regard to the proclamation and the subse-
quent measures. I have differed with the President, as all
know, who know any thing of so humble an individual as
myself, on many questions of great general interest and im-
portance. I differ with him in respect to the constitutional
power of internal improvements ; I differ with him in re-
spect to the rechartering of the Bank, and I dissent, espe-
cially, from the grounds and reasons on which he refused
his assent to the bill passed by Congress for that purpose. J
differ with him, also, probably, in the degree of protection

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 185

which ought to be afforded to our agriculture and manufac-
tures, and in the manner in which it may be proper to dis-
pose of the pubHc lands. But all these differences afforded,
in my judgment, not the slightest reason for opposing him in
a measure of paramount importance, and at a moment of
great public exigency. I sought to take counsel of nothing
but patriotism, to feel no impulse but that of duty, and to
yield not a lame and hesitating, but a vigorous and cordial,
support to measures which, in my conscience, I believed es-
sential to the preservation of the Constitution. It is true,
doubtless, that if myself and others had surrendered our-
selves to a spirit of opposition, we might have embarrassed,
and probably defeated, the measures of the administration.
But in so doing, we should, in my opinion, have been false
to our own characters, false to our duty, and false to our
country. It gives me the highest satisfaction to know, that,
in regard to this subject, the general voice of the country
does not disapprove my conduct.

I ought to add. Gentlemen, that, in whatever I may have
done or attempted in this respect, I only share a common
merit. A vast majority of both houses of Congress cor-
dially concurred in the measures. Your own great State
was seen in her just position on that occasion, and your own
immediate representatives were found among the most zeal-
ous and efficient friends of the Union.

Gentlemen, I hope that the result of that experiment may
prove salutary in its consequences to our government, and to
the interests of the community. I hope that the signal and
decisive manifestation of public opinion, which has, for the
time at least, put down the despotism of nullification, may
produce permanent good effects.

I wish to preserve the Constitution as it is, without addi-
tion, and without diminution, by one jpt or tittle. For the
same reason that I would not grasp at powers not given, I
would not surrender nor abandon powers which are given.
Those who have placed me in a public station placed me
there, not to alter the Constitution, but to administer it.
The power of change the people have retained to them-
selves. They can alter, they can modify, they can change

186 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the Constitution entirely, if they see fit. They can tread it
under foot, and make another, or make no other ; but while
it remains unaltered by the authority of the people, it is our
power of attorney, our letter of credit, our credentials ; and
we are to follow it, and obey its injunctions, and maintain
its just powers, to the best of our abilities. I repeat, that,
for one, I seek to preserve to the Constitution those precise
powers with which the people have clothed it. While no
encroachment is to be made on the reserved rights of the
people or of the States, while nothing is to be usurped, it is
equally clear that we are not at liberty to surrender, either
in fact or form, any power or principle which the Constitu-
tion does actually contain.

Your worthy chief magistrate has been kind enough.
Gentlemen, to express sentiments favorable to myself, as a
friend of domestic industry. Domestic industry ! How
much of national power and opulence, how much of indi-
vidual comfort and respectability, that phrase implies ! And
with what force does it strike us, as we stand here, at the
confluence of the two rivers whose united currents constitute
the Ohio, and in the midst of one of the most flourishing
and distinguished manufacturing cities in the Union ! Many
thousand miles of inland navigation, running through a new
and rapidly-improving country, stretch away below us. In-
ternal communications, completed or in progress, connect
the city with the Atlantic and the Lakes. A hundred steam
engines are in daily operation, and nature has supplied the
fuel which feeds their incessant flames on the spot itself, in
exhaustless abundance. Standing here. Gentlemen, in the
midst of such a population, and with such a scene around
us, how great is the import of these words, "domestic
industry " !

Next to the preservation of the government itself, there
can hardly be a more vital question, to such a community as
this, than that which regards their own employments, and
the preservation of that policy which the government has
adopted and cherished for the encouragement and protection
of those employments. This is not, in a society like this, a
matter which affects the interest of a particular class, but

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 187

one which affects the interest of all classes. It runs through
the whole chain of human occupation and employment, and
touches the means of living and the comfort of all.

Gentlemen, those of you who may have turned your at-
tention to the subject know, that, in the quarter of the coun-
try with which I am more immediately connected, the peo-
ple were not early or eager to urge the government to carry
the protective policy to the height which it has reached.
Candor obliges me to remind you, that, when the act of 1824
was passed, neither he who now addresses you, nor those
with whom he usually acted on such subjects, were ready or
willing to take the step which that act proposed. They
doubted its expediency. It passed, however, by the great and
overwhelming influence of the central States, New York,
Pennsylvania, ajid Ohio. New England acquiesced in it.
She conformed to it, as the settled policy of the country,
and gave to her capital and her labor a corresponding direc-
tion. She has now become vitally interested in the preser-
vation of the system. Her prosperity is identified, not per-
haps with any particular degree of protection, but with the pres-
ervation of the principle ; and she is not likely to consent to
yield the principle, under any circumstances whatever. And
who would dare to yield it ? Who, standing here, and look-
ing round on this community and its interests, would be bold
enough to touch the spring which moves so much industry
and produces so much happiness ? Who would shut up the
mouths of these vast coal pits ? Who would stay the car-
goes of manufactured goods, now floating down a river, one
of the noblest in the world, and stretching through territo-
ries almost boundless in extent and unequalled in fertility 1
Who would quench the fires of so many steam engines, or
check the operations of so much well-employed labor ?
Gentlemen, I cannot conceive how any subversion of that
pohcy which has hitherto been pursued can take place, with-
out great public embarrassment and great private distress.

I have said, that I am in favor of protecting American
manual labor ; and after the best reflection I can give the
subject, and from the lights which I can derive from the ex-
perience of ourselves and others, I have come to the conclu-

188 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

sion that such protection is just and proper ; and that to
leave Anierican labor to sustain a competition with that of the
over-peopled countries of Europe would lead to a state of
things to which the people could never submit. This is the
great reason why I am for maintaining what has been estab-
lished. I see at home, I see here, I see wherever I go, that
the stimulus which has excited the existing activity, and
is producing the existing prosperity, of the country, is noth-
ing else than the stimulus held out to labor by compensating
prices. I think this effect is visible every where, from Pe-
nobscot to New Orleans, and manifest in the condition and
circumstances of the great body of the people ; for nine
tenths of the whole people belong to the laborious, indus-
trious, and productive classes ; and on these classes the
stimulus acts. We perceive that the price of labor is high,
and we know that the means of living are low; and these
two truths speak volumes in favor of the general prosperity
of the country. I am aware, as has been said already, that
tiiis high price of labor results partly from the favorable con-
dition of the country. Labor was high, comparatively speak-
ing, before the act of 1824 passed ; but that fact affords no rea-
son, in my judgment, for endangering its security and sacri-
ficing its hopes, by overthrowing what has since been estab-
lished for its protection.

Let us look. Gentlemen, to the condition of other coun-
tries, and inquire a little into the causes, which, in some of
them, produce poverty and distress, the lamentations of
which reach our own shores. I see around me many whom
I know to be emigrants from other countries. Why are
they here 1 Why is the native of Ireland among us ? Why
has he abandoned scenes as dear to him as these hills and
these rivers are to you 1 Is there any other cause than this,
that the burden of taxation on the one hand, and the low
reward of labor on the other, left him without the means of
a comfortable subsistence, or the power of providing for
those who were dependent upon him ? Was it not on this
account that he left his own land, and sought an asylum in a
country of free laws, of comparative exemption from taxa-
tion, of boundless extent, and in which the means of living

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 189

are cheap, and the prices of labor just and adequate 1 And
do not these remarks apply, with more or less accuracy, to
every other part of Europe 1 Is it not true, that sobriety,
and industry, and good character can do more for a man
here than in any other part of the world ? And is not this
truth, which is so obvious that none can deny it, founded in
this plain reason, that labor in this country earns a better re-
ward than any where else, and so gives more comfort, more
individual independence, and more elevation of character 1
Whatever else may benefit particular portions of society,
whatever else may assist capital, whatever else may favor
sharpsighted commercial enterprise, professional skill, or
extraordinary individual sagacity, or good fortune, be assured.
Gentlemen, that nothing can advance the mass of society in
prosperity and happiness, nothing can uphold the substantial
interest and steadily improve the general condition and char-
acter of the whole, but this one thing, compensating reioards
to labor. The fortunate situation of our country tends
strongly, of itself, to produce this result ; the government
has adopted the policy of cooperating with this natural ten-
dency of things; it has encouraged and fostered labor and
industry, by a system of discriminating duties ; and the re-
sult of these combined causes may be seen in the present
circumstances of the country.

Gentlemen, there are important considerations of another
kind connected with this subject. Our government is popu-
lar ; popular in its foundation, and popular in its exercise.
The actual character of the government can never be better
than the general moral and intellectual character of the com-
munity. It would be the wildest of human imaginations, to
expect a poor, vicious, and ignorant people to maintain a
good popular government. Education and knowledge,
which, as is obvious, can be generally attained by the
people only where there are adequate rewards to labor and
industry, and some share in the public interest, some stake
in the community, would seem indispensably necessary in
those who have the power of appointing all public agents,
passing all laws, and even of making and unmaking consti-
tutions at their pleasure. Hence the truth of the trite

190 CONSTITUTIONAX. TEXT BOOK.

maxim, that knowledge and virtue are the only foundation
of repubhcs. But it is to be added, and to be always re-
membered, that there never was, and never can be, an intel-
ligent and virtuous people who at the same time are a poor
and idle people, badly employed and badly paid. Who
would be safe in any community, where political power is in
the hands of the many and property in the hands of the
few ? Indeed, such an unnatural state of things could
nowhere long exist.

It certainly appears to me. Gentlemen, to be quite evi-
dent at this time, and in the present condition of the world,
that it is necessary to protect the industry of this country
against the pauper labor of England and other parts of
Europe. An American citizen, who has children to main-
tain and children to educate^ has an unequal chance against the
pauper labor of England, whose children are not to be edu-
cated, and are probably already on the parish, and who him-
self is half fed and clothed by his own labor, and half from
the poor rates, and very badly fed and clothed after all. As
I have already said, the condition of our country of itself,
without the aid of government, does much to favor Ameri-
can manual labor ; and it is a question of policy and justice,
at all times, what and how much government shall do in aid
of natural advantages. In regard to some branches of in-
dustry, the natural advantages are less considerable than in
regard to others ; and those, therefore, more imperiously
demand the regard of government. Such are the occupa-
tions, generally speaking, of the numerous classes of citizens
in cities and large towns ; the workers in leather, brass, tin,
iron, &c. ; and such, too, under most circumstances, are the
employments connected with ship building.

Our own experience has been a powerful, and ought to be
a convincing and long-remembered, preacher on this point.
From the close of the war of the Revolution, there came on
a period of depression and distress, on the Atlantic coast,
such as the people had hardly felt during the sharpest crisis
of the war itself. Ship owners, ship builders, mechanics,
artisans, all were destitute of employment, and some of them
destitute of bread. British ships came freely, and British

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 191

goods came plentifully ; while to American ships and Ameri-
can products there was neither protection on the one side,
nor the equivalent of reciprocal free trade on the other.
The cheaper labor of England supplied the inhabitants of
the Atlantic shores with every thing. Ready-made clothes,
among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of
the feet, were for sale in every city. All these things came
free from any general system of imposts. Some of the
States attempted to establish their own partial systems, but
they failed. Voluntary association was resorted to, but that
failed also. A memorable mstance of this mode of attempt-
ing protection occurred in Boston. The ship owners, seeing
that British vessels came and went freely, while their own
ships were rotting at the wharves, raised a committee to ad-
dress the people, recommending to them, in the strongest
manner, not to buy or use any articles imported in British
ships. The chairman of this committee was no less distin-
guished a character than the immortal John Hancock. The
committee performed its duty powerfully and eloquently.
It set forth strong and persuasive reasons why the people
should not buy or use British goods imported in British ships.
The ship owners and merchants having thus proceeded, the
mechanics of Boston took up the subject also. They an-
swered the merchants' committee. Tliey agreed with them
cordially, that British goods, imported in British vessels,
ought not to be bought or consumed; but then they took the
liberty of going a step farther, and of insisting that such
goods ought not to he bought or consumed at all. (Great ap-
plause.) "For," said they, "Mr. Hancock, what difference
does it make to us, whether hats, shoes, boots, shirts, hand-
kerchiefs, tin ware, brass ware, cutlery, and every other
article, come in British ships or come in your ships ; since,
in whatever ships they come, they take away our means of
living ? "

Gentlemen, it is an historical truth, manifested in a thou-
sand ways by the public proceedings and public meetings of
the times, that the necessity of a general and uniform im-
post system, which, while it should provide revenue to pay
the public debt, and foster the commerce of the country,

19^ CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

should also encourage and sustain domestic manufactures,
was the leading cause in producing the present national
Constitution. No class of persons was more zealous for the
new Constitution, than the handicraftsmen, artisans, and
manufacturers. There were then, it is true, no large manu-
facturintf establishments. There were no manufactories in
the interior, for there were no inhabitants. Here was Fort
Pitt, — it had a place on the map, — but here were no peo-
ple, or only a very few. But in the cities and towns on the
Atlantic, the full importance, indeed the absolute necessity,
of a new form of government and a general system of im-
posts was deeply felt.

It so happened, Gentlemen, that at that time much was
thought to depend on Massachusetts ; several States had al-
ready agreed to the Constitution ; if her convention adopted
it, it was likely to go into operation. This gave to the pro-
ceedings of that convention an intense interest, and the
country looked with trembling anxiety for the result. That
result was for a long time doubtful. The convention was
known to be almost equally divided ; and down to the very
day and hour of the final vote, no one could predict, with
any certainty, which side would preponderate. It was under
these circumstances, and at this crisis, that the tradesmen of
the town of Boston, in January, 1788, assembled at the
Green Dragon tavern, the place where the Whigs of the
Revolution, in its early stages, had been accustomed to as-
semble. They resolved, that, in their opinion, if the Con-
stitution should be adopted, " trade and navigation would
revive and increase, and employ and subsistence be afforded
to many of their townsmen, then suffering for the want of
the necessaries of life ; " and that, on the other hand, should
it be rejected, " the small remains of commerce yet left
would be annihilated ; the various trades and handicrafts de-
pendent thereon decay ; the poor be increased, and many
worthy and skilful mechanics compelled to seek employ and
subsistence in strange lands." These resolutions were car-
ried to the Boston delegates in the convention, and placed
in the hands of Samuel Adams. That great and distin-
guished friend of Araeriean liberty, it was feared, might

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 193

have doubts about the new Constitution. Naturally cautious
and sagacious, it was apprehended he might fear the practi-
cability, or the safety, of a general government. He re-
ceived the resolutions from the hands of Paul Revere, a
brass founder by occupation, a man of sense and character,
and of high pubhc spirit, whom the mechanics of Boston
ought never to forget. " How many mechanics," said Mr.
Adams, " were at the Green Dragon when these resolutions
were passed ? " " More, Sir," was the reply, " than the
Green Dragon could hold." "And where were the rest,
Mr. Revere ? " " In the streets. Sir." " And how many
were in the streets 1 " '* More, Sir, than there are stars in
the sky." This is an instance only, among many, to prove,
what is indisputably true, that the tradesmen and mechanics of
the country did look to the new Constitution for encourage-
ment and protection in their respective occupations. Under
these circumstances, it is not to be expected that they will
abandon the principle, in its apphcation to their own em-
ployments, any more than in its application to the commer-
cial and shippii^ interests. They believe the power is in
the Constitution ; and doubtless they mean, so far as depends
on them, to keep it there. Desirous of no extravagant
measure of protection, desirous of oppressing or burdening
nobody, seeking nothing as a substitute for honest industry
and hard work, as a part of the American family, having
the same interests as other parts, they will continue their at-
tachment to the Union and the Constitution, and to all the
great and leading interests of the country.

Gentlemen, your worthy Mayor has alluded to the subject
of internal improvements. Having no doubt of the power
of the general government over various objects compre-
hended under that name, I confess I have felt great pleasure
in forwarding them, to the extent of my ability, by means
of reasonable aid from the government. It has seemed
strange to me, that, in the progress of human knowledge
and human virtue, (for I have no doubt that both are making
progress,) the efforts of government should so long have
been principally confined to external affairs, and to the
enactment of the general laws, without considering how
1.3.

194 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

much may be done by government, which cannot be done
without it, for the improvement of the condition of the peo-
ple. There are many objects, of great value to man, which
cannot be attained by unconnected individuals, but must be
attained, if at all, by association. For many of them gov-
ernment seems the most natural and the most efficient asso-
ciation. Voluntary association has done much, but it can-
not do all. To the great honor and advantage of your own
State, she has been forward in applying the agency of gov-
ernment to great objects of internal utility. But even States
cannot do every thing. There are some things which belong
to all the States ; and, if done at all, must be done by
all the States. At the conclusion of the late war, it ap-
peared to me that the time had come for the government to
turn its attention inward ; to survey the condition of the
country, and particularly the vast Western country ; to take
a comprehensive view of the whole ; and to adopt a libera!
system of internal improvements. There are objects not
naturally within the sphere of any one State, which yet
seemed of great importance, as calculated to unite the dif-
ferent parts of the country, to open a better and shorter
way between the producer and consumer, to promise the
liighest advantage to government itself, in any exigency. It
is true. Gentlemen, that the local theatre for such improve-
ment is not mainly in the East. The East is old, pretty
fully peopled, and small. The West is new, vast, and thinly
peopled. Our rivers can be measured; yours cannot. We
are bounded; you are boundless. The West was, therefore,
most deeply interested in this system, though certainly not
alone interested, even in such works as had a Western lo-
cality. To clear her rivers was to open them for the com-
merce of the whole country ; to construct harbors, and clear
entrances to existing harbors, whether on the Gulf of Mex-
ico or on the Lakes, was for the advantage of that whole
commerce. And if this were not so, he is but a poor pubhc
man whose patriotism is governed by the cardinal points;
who is for or against a proposed measure, according to its
indication by compass, or as it may happen to tend farther
from, or come nearer to, his own immediate connections.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 195

And look at the West ; look at these rivers ; look at the
Lakes ; look especially at Lake Erie, and see what a mod-
erate expenditure has done for the safety of human life, and
the preservation of property, in the navigation of that lake ;
and done, let me add, in the face of a fixed and ardent
opposition.

I rejoice, sincerely. Gentlemen, in the general progress of
internal improvement, and in the completion of so many
objects near you, and connected with your prosperity. Your
own canal and railroad unite you with the Atlantic. Near
you is the Ohio Canal, which does so much credit to a
younger State, and with which your city will doubtless one
day have a direct connection. On the south and east ap-
proaches the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, a great and spir-
ited enterprise, which I always thought entitled to the aid
of government, and a branch of which, it may be hoped,
will yet reach the head of the Ohio.

I will only add. Gentlemen, that for what I have done in
the cause of internal improvement I claim no particular
merit, having only acted with others, and discharged, con-
scientiously and fairly, what I regarded as my duty to the
whole country.

Gentlemen, the Mayor has spoken of the importance and
necessity of education. And can any one doubt, that to
man, as a social and an immortal being, as interested in the
world that is, and infinitely more concerned for that which is
to be, education, that is to say, the culture of the mind and
the heart, is an object of infinite importance 1 So far as
we can trace the desigrns of Providence, the formation of
tiie mind and character, by instruction in knowledge, and in-
struction in righteousness, is a main end of human being.
Among the new impulses which society has received, none
is more gratifying than the awakened attention to public
education. That object begins to exhibit itself to the minds
of men in its just magnitude, and to possess its due share of
regard. It is but in a limited degree, and indirectly only,
that the powers of the general government have been exer-
cised in the promotion of this object. So far as these pow-
ers extend, I have concurred in their exercise with great

196 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

pleasure. The Western States, from the recency of their
settlement, from the great proportion of their population
which are children, and from other circumstances which must,
in all new countries, more or less curtail individual means,
have appeared to me to have peculiar claims to regard ; and
in all cases where I have thought the power clear, I have most
heartily concurred in measures designed for their benefit, in
this respect. And amidst all our efforts for education, liter-
ary, moral, or religious, be it always remembered that we
leave opinion and conscience free. Heaven grant that it
may be the glory of the United States to have established
two great truths, of the highest importance to the whole
human race ; first, that an enlightened community 25 capable
of self-government ; and, second, that the toleration of all
sects does not necessarily produce indifference to religion.

But I have already detained you too long. My friends,
fellow-citizens, and countrymen, I take a respectful leave of
you. The time I have passed on this side the AUeghanies
has been a succession of happy days. I have seen much to
instruct and much to delight me. I return you, again and
again, my unfeigned thanks for the frankness and hospitality
with which you have made me welcome ; and wherever I
may go, or wherever I may be, I pray you to believe I shall
not lose the recollection of your kindness.

THE PEESIDENTIAL PROTEST.

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 1th of May, 1834, on the
President's Protest.

On the 28tli of March, 1834, the Senate adopted a resolution, declar-
ing that " in the late executive proceedings in relation to the public
revenue, the President had assumed a power not conferred by the Con-
stitution and Laws, but in derogation of both." On the 17th of April,
a Protest against this resolution was sent to the Senate, by the President
of the United States, with a request that it should " be entered at length
on the journals of the Senate."

Mr. President, — I feel the magnitude of this question.
We are coming to a vote which cannot fail to produce im-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 197

portant effects on the character of the Senate and the char-
acter of the government.

Unhappily, Sir, the Senate finds itself involved in a con-
troversy with the President of the United States ; a man
who has rendered most distinguished services to his country,
who has hitherto possessed a degree of popular favor per-
haps never exceeded, and whose honesty of motive and
integrity of purpose are still admitted hy those who main-
tain that his administration has fallen into lamentable
errors.

On some of the interesting questions in regard to which
the President and Senate hold opposite opinions, the more
popular branch of the legislature concurs with the executive.
It is not to be concealed that the Senate is engaged against
imposing odds. It can sustain itself only by its own pru-
dence and the justice of its cause. It has no patronage by
which to secure friends ; it can raise up no advocates through
the dispensation of favors, for it has no favors to dispense.
Its very constitution, as a body whose members are elected
for a long term, is capable of being rendered obnoxious, and
is daily made the subject of opprobrious remark. It is al-
ready denounced as independent of the people, and aristo-
cratic. Nor is it, like the other house, powerful in its
numbers ; not being, like that, so large as that its members
come constantly in direct and extensive contact with the
whole people. Under these disadvantages. Sir, which, we
may be assured, will be pressed and urged to the utmost
length, there is but one course for us. The Senate must
stand on its rendered reasons. It must put forth the grounds
of its proceedings, and it must then rely on the intelligence
and patriotism of the people to carry it through the contest.

As an individual member of the Senate, it gives me great
pain to be engaged in such a conflict with the executive
government. The occurrences of the last session are fresh
in the recollection of all of us ; and having felt it to be my
duty, at that time, to give my cordial support to highly im-
portant measures of the administration, I ardently hoped
that nothing might occur to place me afterwards in an atti-
tude of opposition. In all res'jects, and in every way, it

198 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

w^ould have been far more agreeable to me to find notliing
in the measures of the executive government which I could
not cheerfully support. The present occasion of difference
has not been sought or made by me. It is thrust upon me,
in opposition to strong opinions and wishes, on my part not
concealed. The interference with the public deposits dis-
pelled all hope of continued concurrence with the adminis-
tration, and was a measure so uncalled for, so unnecessary,
and, in my judgment, so illegal and indefensible, that, with
whatever reluctance it might be opposed by me, opposition
was unavoidable.

The paper before us has grown out of this interference.
It is a paper which cannot be treated with indifference.
The doctrines which it advances, the circumstances which
have attended its transmission to the Senate, and the manner
in which the Senate may now dispose of it, will form a
memorable era in the history of the government. We are
either to enter it on our journals, concur in its sentiments,
and submit to its rebuke, or we must answer it, with the
respect due to the chief magistrate, but with such animad-
version on its doctrines as they deserve, and vi'ith the firm-
ness imposed upon us by our public duties.

I shall proceed, then, Sir, to consider the circumstances
which gave rise to this Protest ; to examine the principles
which it attempts to establish ; and to compare those prin-
ciples with the Constitution and the laws.

On the 28th day of March, the Senate adopted a resolu-
tion declaring that, " in the late executive proceedings in
relation to the public revenue, the President had assumed a
povv'er not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in
derogation of both." In that resolution I concurred.

It is not a direct question, now again before us, whether
the President really had assumed such illegal power ; that
point is decided, so far as the Senate ever can decide it.
But the Protest denies that, supposing the President to have
assumed such illegal power, the Senate could properly pass
the resolution ; or, what is the same thing, it denies that the
Senate could, in this way, express any opinion about it. It
denies that the Senate has any right, by resolution, in this

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 199

or any other case, to express disapprobation of the Presi-
dent's conduct, let that conduct be what it may ; and this,
one of the leading doctrines of the Protest, I propose to
consider. But as I concurred in the resolution of the 28th
of March, and did not trouble the Senate, at that time,
with any statement of my own reasons, I will avail myself
of this opportunity to explain, shortly, what those reasons
were.

In the first place, then, I have to say, that I did not vote
for the resolution on the mere ground of the removal of Mr.
Duane from the office of Secretary of the Treasury. Al-
though I disapprove of the removal altogether, yet the
power of removal does exist in the President, according to
the established construction of the Constitution ; and there-
fore, although in a particular case it may be abused, and, in
my opinion, was abused in this case, yet its exercise cannot
be justly said to be an assumption or usurpation. We must
all agree that Mr. Duane is out of office. He has, there-
fore been removed by a power constitutionally competent to
remove him, whatever may be thought of the exercise of
that power under the circumstances of the case.

If, then, the act of removing the Secretary be not the
assumption of power which the resolution declares, in what
is that assumption found ? Before giving a precise answer
to this inquiry, allow me to recur to some of the principal
previous events.

At the end of the last session of Congress, the public
moneys of the United States were still in their proper place.
That place was fixed by the law of the land, and no power
of change was conferred on any other human being than
the Secretary of the Treasury. On him the power of
change was conferred, to be exercised by himself, if emer-
gency should arise, and to be exercised for reasons which he
was bound to lay before Congress. No other officer of the
government had the slightest pretence of authority to lay
his hand on these moneys for the purpose of changing the
place of their custody. All the other heads of departments
together could not touch them. The President could not
touch them. The power of change was a trust confided to

200 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the discretion of the Secretary, and to his discretion alone.
The President had no more authority to take upon himself
this duty, thus assigned expressly by law to the Secretary,
than he had to make the annual report to Congress, or the
annual commercial statements, or to perform any other ser-
vice which the law specially requires of the Secretary. He
might just as well sign the warrants for moneys, in the
ordinary daily disbursements of government, instead of the
Secretary. The statute had assigned the especial duty of
removing the deposits, if removed at all, to the Secretary of
the Treasury, and to him alone. The consideration of the
propriety or necessity of removal must be the consideration
of the Secretary ; the decision to remove, his decision ; and
the act of removal, his act.

Now, Sir, on the 18th day of September last, a resolution
was taken to remove these deposits from their legislative,
that is to say, their legal custody. Whose resolution was
this? On the 1st of October, they were removed. jBy
whose power was this done 7 The papers necessary to ac-
complish the removal (that is, the orders and drafts) are, it
is true, signed by the Secretary. The President's name is
not subscribed to them ; nor does the Secretary, in any of
them, recite or declare that he does the act by direction of
the President, or on the President's responsibility. In form,
the whole proceeding is the proceeding of the Secretary,
and, as such, had the legal effect. The deposits were re-
moved. But whose act was it, in truth and reality ?
Whose will accomplished it 1 On whose responsibility was
it adopted 1

These questions are all explicitly answered by the Presi-
dent himself, in the paper, under his own hand, read to the
Cabinet, on the 18th of September, and published by his
authority. In this paper the President declares, in so many
words, that he begs his Cabinet to consider the proposed
measure as his own ; that, its responsibility has been assumed
by him ; and that he names the first day of October as a
period proper for its execution.

Now, Sir, it is precisely this which I deem an assumption
of power not conferred by the Constitution and laws. I

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 201

think the law did not give this authority to the President,
nor impose on him the responsibility of its exercise. It is
evident that, in this removal, the Secretary was in reality
nothing but the scribe ; he was the pen in the President's
hand, and no more. Nothing depended on his discretion,
his judgment, or his responsibility. The removal, indeed,
has been admitted and defended in the Senate, as the direct
act of the President himself. This, Sir, is what I call
assumption of power. If the President had issued an order
for the removal of the deposits in his own name, and under
his own hand, it would have been an illegal order, and the
bank would not have been at liberty to obey it. For the
same reason, if the Secretary's order had recited that it was
issued by the President's direction, and on the President's
authority, it would have shown on its face that it was illegal
and invalid. No one can doubt that. The act of removal,
to be lawful, must be the honajide act of the Secretary ; Ids
judgment, the result of his deliberations, the volition of his
mind. All are able to see the difference between the power
to remove the Secretary from office, and the power to con-
trol him, in all or any of his duties, while in office. The
law charges the officer, whoever he may be, with the per-
formance of certain duties. The President, with the con-
sent of the Senate, appoints an individual to be such officer ;
and this individual he may remove, if he so please ; but,
until removed, he is the officer, and remains charged with
the duties of his station, duties which nobody else can per-
form, and for the neglect or violation of which he is liable
to be impeached.

The distinction is visible and broad between the power of
removal and the power to control an officer not removed.
The President, it is true, may terminate his political life ;
but he cannot control his powers and functions, and act upon
him as a mere machine, while he is allowed to live. The
power of control and direction, nowhere given, certainly,
by any express provision of the Constitution or laws, is
derived, by those who maintain it, from the right of removal;
that is to say, it is a constructive power ; it has no express
warrant in the Constitution. A very important power, then,

202 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

is raised by construction in the first place ; and being thus
raised, it becomes a fountain out of which other important
powers, raised also by construction, are to be supplied.
There is no little danger that such a mode of reasoning
may be carried too far. It cannot be maintained that the
power of direct control necessarily flows from the power
of removal. Suppose it had been decided in 1789, when
the question was debated, that the President does not pos-
sess the power of removal ; will it be contended, that, in
that case, his right of interference with the acts and duties
of executive officers would be kss than it now is? The
reason of the thing would seer co be the other way. If the
President may remove an incumbent when he becomes
satisfied of his unfaithfulness and incapacity, there would
appear to be less necessity to give him also a right of con-
trol, than there would be if he could not remove him.

We may try this question by supposing it to arise in a
judicial proceeding. If the Secretary of the Treasury were
impeached for removing the deposits, could he justify him-
self by saying that he did it by the President's direction 1
If he could, then no executive officer could ever be im-
peached, who obeys the President ; and the whole notion
of making such officers impeachable at all would be farcical.
If he could not so justify himself, (and all will allow he
could not,) the reason can only be that the act of re-
moval is his own act ; the power, a power confided to
him, for the just exercise of which the law looks to his dis-
cretion, his honesty, and his direct responsibility.

Now, Sir, the President wishes the world to understand
that he himself decided on the question of the removal of
the deposits ; that he took the whole responsibility of the
measure upon himself ; that he wished it to be considered
his own act ; that he not only himself decided that the thing
should be done, but regulated its details also, and named the
day for carrying it into effect.

1 have always entertained a very erroneous view of the
partition of powers, and of the true nature of official
responsibility under our Constitution, if this be not a plain
case of the assumption of power.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 203

The legislature had fixed a place, by law, for the keeping
of the public money. They had, at the same time and by
the same law, created and conferred a power of removal, to
be exercised contingently. This power they had vested in
the Secretary, by express words. The law did not say that
the deposits should be made in the bank, unless the Presi-
dent should order otherwise ; but it did say that they should
be made there, unless the Secretary of the Treasury should
order otherwise. I put it to the plain sense and common
candor of all men, whether^ the discretion thus to be exer-
cised over the subject was not the Secretary's own personal
discretion ; and whether, therefore, the interposition of the
authority of another, acting directly and conclusively on the
subject, deciding the whole question, even in its particulars
and details, be not an assumption of power 1

The Senate regarded this interposition as an encroach-
ment by the executive on other branches of the government ;
as an interference with the legislative disposition of the pub-
lic treasure. It was strongly and forcibly urged, yesterday,
by the honorable member from South Carolina, that the
true and only mode of preserving any balance of power, in
mixed governments, is to keep an exact balance. This is
very true, and to this end encroachment must be resisted at
the first step. The question is, therefore, whether, upon
the true principles of the Constitution, this exercise of
power by the President can be justified. Whether the con-
sequences be prejudicial or not, if there be an illegal exer-
cise of power, it is to be resisted in the proper manner.
Even if no harm or inconvenience result from transgressing
the boundary, the intrusion is not to be suffered to pass
unnoticed. Every encroachment, great or small, is impor-
tant enough to awaken the attention of those who are
intrusted with the preservation of a constitutional govern-
ment. We are not to wait till great public mischiefs come,
till the government is overthrown, or hberty itself put into
extreme jeopardy. We should not be worthy sons of our
fathers were we so to regard great questions affecting the
general freedom. Those fathers accompUshed the Revolu-
tion on a strict question of principle. The Parliament of

204 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Great Britain asserted a right to tax the Colonies in all
cases whatsoever ; and it was precisely on this question that
they made the Revolution turn. The amount of taxation
was trifling, but the claim itself was inconsistent with lib-
erty ; and that was, in their eyes, enough. It was against
the recital of an act of Parliament, rather than against any
suffering under its enactments, that they took up arms.
They went to war against a preamble. They fought seven
years against a declaration. They poured out their treas-
ures and their blood like water, in a contest against an
assertion which those less sagacious and not so well schooled
in the principles of civil liberty would have regarded as
barren phraseology, or mere parade of words. They saw
in the claim of the British Parliament a seminal principle
of mischief, the germ of unjust power ; they detected it,
dragged it forth from underneath its plausible disguises,
struck at it ; nor did it elude either their steady eye or
their well-directed blow till they had extirpated and de-
stroyed it, to the smallest fibre. On this question of princi-
ple, while actual suffering was yet afar off, they raised their
flag against a power, to which, for purposes of foreign con-
quest and subjugation, Rome, in the height of her glory, is
not to be compared ; a power which has dotted over the
surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military
posts, whose morning drum beat, following the sun, and
keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one
continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of Eng-
land.

The necessity of holding strictly to the principle upon
which free governments are constructed, and to those pre-
cise lines which fix the partitions of power between different
branches, is as plain, if not as cogent, as that of resisting,
as our fathers did, the strides of the parent country against
the rights of the Colonies ; because, whether the power
which exceeds its just limits be foreign or domestic, whether
it be the encroachment of all branches on the rights of the
people, or that of one branch on the rights of others, in
either case the balanced and well-adjusted machinery of free
government is disturbed, and, if the derangement go on, the
whole system must fall.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 205

Mr. President, the executive claim of power is exactly
this, that the President may keep the money of the public
in whatever banks he chooses, on whatever terms he chooses,
and apply the sums which these banks are willing to pay for
its use to whatever purposes he chooses. These sums are
not to come into the general treasury. They are to be ap-
propriated before they get there ; they are never to be
brought under the control of Congress ; they are to be paid
to officers and agents not known to the law, not nominated
to the Senate, and responsible to nobody but the executive
itself. I ask gentlemen if all this be lawful. Are they
prepared to defend it 1 Will they stand up and justify it ?
In ray opinion. Sir, it is a clear and most dangerous assump-
tion of power. It is the creation of office without law ; the
appointment to office without consulting the Senate ; the
establishment of a salary without law ; and the payment of
that salary out of a fund which itself is derived from the
use of the public treasures. This, Sir, is my other reason
for concurring in the vote of the 28th of March ; and on
these grounds I leave the propriety of that vote, so far as I
am concerned with it, to be judged of by the country.

But, Sir, the President denies the power of the Senate to
pass any such resolution, on any ground whatever. Sup-
pose the declaration contained in the resolution to be true ;
suppose the President had, in fact, assumed powers not
granted to him ; does the Senate possess the right to declare
its opinion, affirming this fact, or does it not ? I maintain
that the Senate does possess such a power ; the President
denies it.

Mr. President, we need not look far, nor search deep, for
the foundation of this right in the Senate. It is close at
hand, and clearly visible. In the first place, it is the right
of self-defence. In the second place, it is a right founded
on the duty of representative bodies, in a free government,
to defend the public liberty against encroachment. We
must presume that the Senate honestly entertained the opin-
ion expressed in the resolution of the 28th of March ; and,
entertaining that opinion, its right to express it is but the
necessary consequence of its right to defend its own consti-

206 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tutional authority, as one branch of the government. This
is its clear right, and this, too, is its imperative duty.

I know not who wrote this Protest, but I confess I am
astonished, truly astonished, as well at the want of knowl-
edge which it displays of constitutional law, as at the high
and dangerous pretensions which it puts forth. Neither
branch of the legislature can express censure upon the
President's conduct ! Suppose, Sir, that we should see him
enlisting troops and raising an army, can we say nothing,
and do nothing? Suppose he were to declare war against
a foreign power, and put the army and the fleet in action ;
are we still to be silent ? Suppose we should see him bor-
rowing money on the credit of the United States ; are we
yet to wait for impeachment? Indeed, Sir, in regard to
this borrowing money on the credit of the United States, I
wish to call the attention of the Senate, not only to what
might happen, but to what has actually happened. We are
informed that the Post Office Department, a department
over which the President claims the same control as over
the rest, has actually borrowed near half a million of money
on the credit of the United States.

Mr. President, the first power granted to Congress by
the Constitution is the power to lay taxes; the second, the
power to borrow money on the credit of the United States.
Now, Sir, where does the executive find its authority, in or
through any department, to borrow money without authority
of Congress ? This proceeding appears to me wholly ille-
gal, and reprehensible in a very high degree. It may be
said that it is not true that this money is borrowed on the
credit of the United States, but that it is borrowed on the
credit of the Post Office Department. But that would be
mere evasion. The department is but a name. It is an
office, and nothing more. The banks have not lent this
money to any officer. If Congress should abolish the whole
department to-morrow, would the banks not expect the
United States to replace this borrowed money ? The
money, then, is borrowed on the credit of the United States,
an act which Congress alone is competent to authorize. If
the Post Office Department may borrow money, so may the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 207

War Department and the Navy Department. If half a
million may be borrowed, ten milhons may be borrowed.
What, then, if this transaction shall be justified, is to hinder
the executive from borrowing money to maintain fleets and
armies, or for any other purpose, at his pleasure, without
any authority of law ? Yet even this, according to the doc-
trine of the Protest, we have no right to complain of.

The Protest declares that the President is charged with a
crime^ and^ without hearing or trial, found guilty and con-
demned. This is evidently an attempt to appeal to popular
feeling, and to represent the President as unjustly treated
and unfairly tried. Sir, it is a false appeal. The President
has not been tried at all ; he has not been accused ; he has
not been charged with crime ; he has not been condemned.
Accusation, trial, and sentence are terms belonging to judi-
cial proceedings. But the Senate has been engaged in no
such proceeding. The resolution of the 28th of March
was not an exercise of judicial power, either in form, in
substance, or in intent. Every body knows that the Senate
can exercise no judicial power until articles of impeachment
are brought before it. It is then to proceed, by accusation
and answer, hearing, trial, and judgment. But there has
been no impeachment, no answer, no hearing, no judgment.
All that the Senate did was to pass a resolution, in legisla-
tive form, declaring its opinion of certain acts of the execu-
tive. This resolution imputed no crime ; it charged no
corrupt motive ; it proposed no punishment. It was direct-
ed, not against the President personally, but against the act ;
and that act it declared to be, in its judgment, an assump-
tion of authority not warranted by the Constitution.

It is in vain that the Protest attempts to shift the resolu-
tion to the judicial character of the Senate. The case is
too plain for such an argument to be plausible. But, in
order to lay some foundation for it, the Protest, as I have
already said, contends that neither the Senate nor the House
of Representatives can express its opinions on the conduct
of the President, except in some form connected with
impeachment ; so that if the power of impeachment did not
exist, these two houses, though they be representative bodies,

208 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

though one of them be filled by the immediate representa-
tives of the people, though they be constituted like other
popular and representative bodies, could not utter a syllable,
although they saw the executive either trampling on their
own rights and privileges, or grasping at absolute authority
and dominion over the liberties of the country ! Sir, I
hardly know how to speak of such claims of impunity for
executive encroachment. I am amazed that any American
citizen should draw up a paper containing such lofty preten-
sions ; pretensions which would have been met with scorn in
England, at any time since the Revolution of 1688. A man
who should stand up, in either house of the British Parlia-
ment, to maintain that the house could not, by vote or reso-
lution, maintain its own rights and privileges, would make
even the Tory benches hang their heads for very shame.

There was, indeed, a time when such proceedings were
not allowed. Some of the kings of the Stuart race would
not tolerate them. A signal instance of royal displeasure
with the proceedings of Parliament occurred in the latter
part of the reign of James the First. The House of Com-
mons had spoken, on some occasion, " of its own undoubted
rights and privileges." The king thereupon sent them a
letter, declaring that he would not allow that they had any
undoubted rights ; hut that what they enjoyed they might still
hold hy his own royal grace and permission. Sir Edward
Coke and Mr. Granville were not satisfied with this title to
their privileges ; and, under their lead, the house entered on
its journals a resolution asserting its privileges, as its own
undoubted right, and manifesting a determination to maintain
them as such. This, says the historian, so enraged his
Majesty, that he sent for the journal, had it brought into the
Council, and there, in the presence of his lords and great
ofiicers of state, tore out the ofi'ensive resolution with his
own royal hand. He then dissolved Parliament, and sent
its most refractory members to the Tower. I have no fear,
certainly. Sir, that this English example will be followed, on
this occasion, to its full extent ; nor would I insinuate that
any thing outrageous has been thought of, or intended,
except outrageous pretensions ; but such pretensions I must

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 209

impute to the author of this Protest, whoever that author
may be.

When this and the other house shall lose the freedom of
speech and debate ; when they shall surrender the rights
of publicly and freely canvassing all important measures of
the executive ; when they shall not be allowed to maintain
their own authority and their own privileges by vote, decla-
ration, or resolution, — they vi^ill then be no longer free rep-
resentatives of a free people, but slaves themselves, and fit
instruments to make slaves of others.

The Protest, Mr. President, concedes what it doubtless
regards as a liberal right of discussion to the people them-
selves. But its language, even in acknowledging this right
of the people to discuss the conduct of their servants, is
qualified and peculiar. The free people of the United
States, it declares, have an undoubted right to discuss the
ofiicial conduct of the President in such language and form
as they may think proper, " subject only to the restraints of
truth and justice." But, then, who is to be judge of this
truth and justice 1 Are the people to judge for themselves,
or are others to judge for them 1 The Protest is here
speaking of political rights, and not moral rights ; and if
restraints are imposed on political rights, it must follow, of
course, that others are to decide whenever the case arises
whether these restraints have been violated. It is strange
that the writer of the Protest did not perceive that, by
using this language, he was pushing the President into a
direct avowal of the doctrines of 1798. The text of the
Protest and the text of the obnoxious act * of that year are
nearly identical.

In asserting power for an American President, I prefer
that he should attempt to maintain his assertions on Ameri-
can reasons. I know not, Sir, who the writer was, (I wish
I did ;) but whoever he was, it is manifest that he argues
this part of his case, throughout, on the principles of the
constitution of England. It is true, that, in England, the
king is regarded as the original fountain of all honor and

* Commonly called the Sedition Act, approved 14th July, 1798.
14

210 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

all office; and that anciently, indeed, he possessed all polit-
ical power of every kind. It is true that this mass of
authority, in the progress of that government, has been
diminished, restrained, and controlled, by charters, by immu-
nities, by grants, and by various modifications, which the
friends of liberty have, at different periods, been able to
obtain or to impose. All liberty, as we know, all popular
privileges, as indeed the word itself imports, were formerly
considered as favors and concessions from the monarch.
But whenever and wherever civil freedom could get a foot-
hold, and could maintain itself, these favors were turned into
rights. Before and during the reigns of the princes of the
Stuart family, they were acknowledged only as favors or
privileges graciously allowed, although even then, whenever
opportunity offered, as in the instance to which I alluded
just now, they were contended for as rights ; and by the
Revolution of 1688 they were acknowledged as the rights
of Englishmen, by the prince who then ascended the throne,
and as the condition on which he was allowed to sit upon it.
But with us there never was a time when we acknowledged
original, unrestrained, sovereign power over us. Our con-
stitutions are not made to limit and restrain preexisting
authority. They are the instruments by which the people
confer power on their own servants. If I may use a legal
phrase, the people are grantors, not grantees. They give
to the government, and to each branch of it, all the power
it possesses, or can possess ; and what is not given they
retain. In England, before her revolution, and in the rest
of Europe since, if we would know the extent of liberty or
popular right, we must go to grants, to charters, to allow-
ances, and indulgences. But with us, we go to grants and
to constitutions to learn the extent of the powers of govern-
ment. No political power is more original than the Consti-
tution ; none is possessed which is not there granted ; and
the grant, and the limitations in the grant, are in the same
instrument.

The powers, therefore, belonging to any branch of our
government, are to be construed and settled, not by remote
analogies drawn from other governments, but from the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. Ml

words of the grant itself, in their plain sense and necessary
import, and according to an interpretation consistent with
our own history and the spirit of our own institutions. I will
never agree that a President of the United States holds the
whole undivided power of office in his own hands, upon
the theory that he is responsible for the entire action of tlie
whole body of those engaged in carr.ying on the government
and executing the laws. Such a responsibility is purely
ideal, delusive, and vain. There is, there can be, no sub-
stantial responsibility, any further than every individual is
answerable, not merely in his reputation, not merely in the
opinion of mankind, but to the law, for the faithful discharge
of his own appropriate duties. Again and again we hear it
said that the President is responsible to the American peo-
ple ! that he is responsible to tfie bar of public opinion !
For whatever he does, he assumes accountability to the
American people ! For whatever he omits, he expects to
be brought to the high bar of public opinion ! And this is
thought enough for a limited, restrained, republican govern-
ment ! an undefined, undefinable, ideal responsibility to the
public judgment !

Sir, if all this mean any thing, if it be not empty sound,
it means no less than that the President may do any thing
and every thing which he may expect to be tolerated in
doing. He may go just so far as he thinks it safe to go ;
and Cromwell and Bonaparte went no farther. I ask again,
Sir, Is this legal responsibility ? Is this the true nature of
a government with written laws and limited powers ? And
allow me. Sir, to ask, too, if an executive magistrate, while
professing to act under the Constitution, is restrained only
by this responsibility to public opinion, what prevents him,
on the same responsibility, from proposing a change in that
Constitution 1 Why may he not say, " I am about to intro-
duce new forms, new principles, and a new spirit ; I am
about to try a political experiment on a great scale ; and
when I get through with it, I shall be responsible to the
American people, I shall be answerable to the bar of public
opinion " 1

Connected, Sir, with the idea of this airy and unreal

213 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

responsibility to the public is another sentiment, which of
late we hear frequently expressed ; and that is, that the
President is the direct representative of the American people.
This is declared in the Protest in so many words. " The
President," it says, " is the direct representative of the Amer-
ican people.'''' Now, Sir, this is not the language of the
Constitution. The Co^istitution nowhere calls him the rep-
resentative of the American people ; still less, their direct
representative. It could not do so with the least propri-
ety. He is not chosen directly by the people, but by a
body of electors, some of whom are chosen by the people,
and some of whom -are appointed by the State legisla-
tures. Where, then, is the authority for saying that the
President is the direct representative of the people 1 The
Constitution calls the members of the other house Repre-
sentatives, and declares that they shall be chosen by the peo-
ple ; and there are no other direct or immediate representa-
tives of the people in this government. The Constitution
denominates the President simply the President of the
United States ; it points out the complex mode of electing
him, defines his powers and duties, and imposes limits and
restraints on his authority. With these powers and duties,
and under these restraints, he becomes, when chosen, Presi-
dent of the United States. That is his character, and the
denomination of his office. How is it, then, that, on this
official character, thus cautiously created, limited, and d'e-
fined, he is to ingraft another and a very imposing character,
namely, the character of the direct representative of the
American people 1 I hold this. Sir, to be mere assumption,
and dangerous assumption. If he is the representative of
all the American people, he is the only representative which
they all have. Nobody else presumes to represent all the
people. And if he may be allowed to consider himself as

the SOLE REPRESENTATIVE OF ALL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE,

and is to act under no other responsibihty than such as I
liave already described, then I say. Sir, that the government
(I will not say the people) has already a master. I deny
the sentiment, therefore, and I protest against the language ;
neither the sentiment nor the language is to be found in the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 213

Constitution of the country ; and whoever is not satisfied to
describe the powers of the President in the language of t!ie
Constitution may be justly suspected of being; as httle satis-
fied with the powers themselves. The President is Presi-
dent. His office and his name of office are known, and
both are fixed and described by law. Being commander of
the army and navy, liolding the ppwer of nominating to
office and removing from office, and being by these powers
the fountain of all patronage and all favor, what does he
not become if he be allowed to superadd to all this the
character of single representative of the American people ?
Sir, he becomes what America has not been accustomed to
see, what this Constitution has never created, and what I
cannot contemplate but with profound alarm. He who may
call himself the single representative of a nation, may speak
in the name of the nation, may undertake to wield the
power of the nation; and who shall gainsay him in whatso-
ever he chooses to pronounce to be the nation's will ?

I will now. Sir, ask leave to recapitulate the general doc-
trines of this Protest, and to present them together. They
are, —

That neither branch of the legislature can take up, or con-
sider, for the purpose of censure, any official act of the
President, without some view to legislation or impeachment ;

That not only the passage, but the discussion, of the res-
olution of the Senate of the 28th of March, was unauthor-
ized by the Constitution, and repugnant to its provisions ;

That the custody of the public treasury always must be
intrusted to the executive ; that Congress cannot take it out
of his hands, nor place it any where except under such super-
intendents and keepers as are appointed by him, responsible
to him, and removable at his will; '

That the whole executive power is in the President, and
that therefore the duty of defending the integrity of the
Constitution results to him from the very nature of his office ;
and that the founders of our republic have attested their
sense of the importance of this duty, and, by expressing it
in his official oath, have given to it peculiar solemnity and
force ;

21.4 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

That, as he is to take care that the laws be faithfully exe-
cuted, he is thereby made responsible for the entire action
of the executive department, with the power of appointing,
overseeing:, and controlling those who execute the laws ;

That the power of removal from office, like that of
appointment, is an original executive power, and is left in
his hands unchecked by the Constitution, except in the case
of jud<^es ; that, being responsible for the exercise of the
whole executive power, he has a right to employ agents of
his own choice to assist him in the performance of his duties,
and to discharge them when he is no longer willing to be
responsible for their acts ;

That the Secretaries are his Secretaries, and all persons
appointed to offices created by law, except the judges, his
agents, responsible to him, and removable at his pleasure ;

And, finally, that he is the direct representative of the
American people.

These, Sir, are some of the leading propositions con-
tained in the Protest; and if they be true, then the govern-
ment under which we live is an elective monarchy. It is
not yet absolute ; there arc yet some checks and limitations
in the Constitution and laws ; but, in its essential and pre-
vailing character, it is an elective monarchy.

Mr. President, I have spoken freely of this Protest, and
of the doctrines which it advances ; but 1 have spoken delib-
erately. On these high questions of constitutional law,
respect for my own character, as well as a solemn and pro-
found sense of duty, restrains me from giving utterance to
a single sentiment which does not flow from entire convic-
tion. 1 feel that I am not wrong. I feel that an inborn
and inbred love of constitutional liberty, and some study of
our political institutions, have not on this occasion misled
me. But I have desired to say nothing that should give
pain to the chief magistrate personally. I have not sought
to fix arrows in his breast ; but I believe him mistaken, alto-
gether mistaken, in the sentiments which he has expressed ;
and 1 must concur wjth others in placing on the records of
the Senate my disapprobation of those sentiments. On a
vote which is to remain so long as any proceeding of the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 215

Senate shall last, and on a question which can never cease
to be important while the Constitution of the country en-
dures, I have desired to make public my reasons. They
will now be known, and I submit them to the judgment
of the present and of after times. Sir, the occasion is
full of interest. It cannot pass off without leaving strong
impressions on the character of public men. A colHsion has
taken place which I could have most anxiously wished to
avoid ; but it was not to be shunned. We have not sought
this controversy ; it has met us, and been forced upon us.
In my judgment, the law has been disregarded, and the
Constitution transgressed ; the fortress of liberty has been
assaulted, and circumstances have placed the Senate in the
breach ; and, although we may perish in it, I know we shall
not fly from it. But I am fearless of consequences. We
shall hold on, Sir, and hold out, till the people themselves
come to its defence. We shall raise the alarm, and main-
tain the post, till they whose right it is shall decide whether
the Senate be a faction, wantonly resisting lawful power,
or whether it be opposing, with firmness and patriotism,
violations of liberty and inroads upon the Constitution.

THE APPOINTING AND REMOVING POWER.

Speech on the Appointing and Removing Power, delivered in the Senate of the United
States, on the 16f/t of February, 1835, on the Passage of the Bill entitled " An Act to
repeal the First and Second Sections of the Act to limit the Term of Service of certain
Officers therein named."

Mr. President, — The professed object of this bill is
the reduction of executive influence and patronage. I con-
cur in the propriety of that object. Having no wish to
diminish or to control, in the slightest degree, the constitu-
tional and legal authority of the presidential office, I yet
think that the indirect and rapidly-increasing influence which
it possesses, and which arises from the power of bestowing
office and of taking it away again at pleasure, and from the
manner in which that power seems now to be systematically
exercised, is productive of serious evils.

216 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The extent of the patronage springing from this power
of appointment and removal is so great, that it brings a
dangerous mass of private and personal interest into opera-
tion in all great public elections and public questions. This
is a mischief which has reached, already, an alarming
height. The principle of republican governments, we are
taught, is public virtue ; and whatever tends either to corrupt
this principle, to debase it, or to weaken its force, tends, in
the same degree, to the final overthrow of such governments.
Our representative systems suppose, that, in exercising the
high right of suffrage, the greatest of all political rights, and
in forming opinions on great public measures, men will act
conscientiously, under the influence of public principle and
patriotic duty; and that, in supporting or opposing men or
measures, there will be a general prevalence of honest,
intelligent judgment and manly independence. These pre-
sumptions lie at the foundation of all hope of maintaining
governments entirely popular. Whenever personal, indi-
vidual, or selfish motives influence the conduct of individuals
on public questions, they affect the safety of the whole sys-
tem. When these motives run deep and wide, and come
in serious conflict with higher, purer, and more patriotic
purposes, they greatly endanger that system ; and all will
admit that, if they become general and overwhelming, so
that all public principle is lost sight of, and every election
becomes a mere scramble for office, the system inevitably
must fall. Every wise man, in and out of government, will
endeavor, therefore, to promote the ascendency of public
virtue and public principle, and to restrain as far as practi-
cable, in the actual operation of our institutions, the influence
of selfish and private interests.

I concur with those who think, that, looking to the pres-
ent, and looking also to the future, and regarding all the
probabilities that await us in reference to the character and
qualities of those who may fill the executive chair, it is im-
portant to the stability of government and the welfare of
the people that there should be a check to the progress of
official influence and patronage. The unlimited power to
grant office, and to take it away, gives a command over the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 217

hopes and fears of a vast multitude pf men. It is gener-
ally true, that he who controls another man's means of
living controls his will. Where there are favors to be
granted, there are usually enough to solicit for them ; and
when favors once granted may be withdrawn at pleasure,
there is ordinarily little security for personal independence
of character. The power of giving office thus affects the
fears of all who are in, and the hopes of all who are out.
Those who are out endeavor to distinguish themselves by
active political friendship, by warm personal devotion, by
clamorous support of men in whose hands is the power of
reward ; while those who are in ordinarily take care that
others shall not surpass them in such qualities or
such conduct as are most likely to secure favor. They
resolve not to be outdone in any of the works of partisan-
ship. The consequence of all this is obvious. A compe-
tition ensues, not of patriotic labors; not of rough and
severe toils for the public good ; not of manliness, inde-
pendence, and pubhc spirit ; but of complaisance, of indis-
criminate support of executive measures, of pliant subser-
viency and gross adulation. All throng and rush together
to the altar of man worship ; and there they offer sacrifices,
and pour out libations, till the thick fumes of their incense
turn their own heads, and turn, also, the head of him who
is the object of their idolatry.

The existence of parties in popular governments is not to
be avoided ; and if they are formed on constitutional ques-
tions, or in regard to great measures of pubhc policy, and
do not run to excessive, length, it may be admitted that, on
the whole, they do no great harm. But the patronage of
office, the power of bestowing place and emoluments, creates
parties, not upon any principle or any measure, but upon
the single ground of personal interest. Under the direct
influence of this motive, they form round a leader, and they
go for <' the spoils of victory." And if the party chieftain
becomes the national chieftain, he is still but too apt to con-
sider all who have opposed him as enemies to be punished,
and all who have supported him as friends to be rewarded.
Blind devotion to party, and to the head of a party, thus takes

218 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

place of the sentiment of generous patriotism and a high
and exalted sense of public duty.

Let it not be said, Sir, that the danger from executive
patronage cannot be great, since the persons who hold of-
fice, or can hold office, constitute so small a portion of
the whole people.

In the first place, it is to be remembered that patronage
acts, not only on those who actually possess office, but on
those also who expect it, or hope for it ; and in the next
place, office holders, by their very situation, their public
station, their connection with the business of individuals,
their activity, their ability to help or to hurt according to
their pleasure, their acquaintance with public affairs, and
their zeal and devotion, exercise a degree of influence out
of all proportion to their numbers.

Sir, we cannot disregard our own experience. We can-
not shut our eyes to what is around us and upon us. No
candid man can deny that a great, a very great change has
taken place, within a few years, in the practice of the ex-
ecutive government, which has produced a corresponding
change in our political condition. No one can deny that
office, of every kind, is now sought with extraordinary
avidity, and that the condition, well understood to be at-
tached to every officer, high or low, is indiscriminate sup-
port of executive measures and implicit obedience to execu-
tive will. For these reasons, Sir, I am for arresting the
further progress of this executive patronage, if we can arrest
it. I am for staying the further contagion of this plague.

Sir, the theory of our institutions is plain ; it is, that
government is an agency created for the good of the people,
and that every person in office is the agent and servant of
the people. Offices are created, not for the benefit of those
who are to fill them, but for the public convenience ; and
they ought to be no more in number, nor should higher
salaries be attached to them, than the public service requires.
This is the theory. But the difficulty in practice is, to pre-
vent a direct reversal of all this ; to prevent public offices
from being considered as intended for the use and emolu-
ment of those who can obtain them. There is a headlong

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 219

tendency to this, and it is necessary to restrain it by wise
and effective legislation. There is still another, and perhaps
a greatly more mischievous result, of extensive patronage
in the hands of a single magistrate, to which I have already
incidentally alluded ; and that is, that men in office have
begun to think themselves mere agents and servants of the
appointing power, and not agents of the government or the
country. It is, in an especial manner, important, if it be
practicable, to apply some corrective to this kind of feeling
and opinion. It is necessary to bring back public officers
to the conviction, that they belong to the country, and not
to any administration, nor to any one man. The army is
the army of the country ; the navy is the navy of the country ;
neither of them is either the mere instrument of the adminis-
tration for the time being, nor of him who is at the head of it.
The post office, the land office, the custom house, are, in like
manner, institutions of the country, established for the good
of the people ; and it may well alarm the lovers of free
institutions, when all the offices in these several departments
are spoken of, in high places, as being but " spoils of
victory," to be enjoyed by those who are successful in a
contest, in which they profess this grasping of the spoils to
have been the object of their effijrts.

This part of the bill, therefore, Sir, is a subject for fair
comparison. We have gained something, doubtless, by lim-
iting the commissions of these officers to four years.

For one, I think the balance of advantage is decidedly in
favor of the present bill. I think it will make men more
dependent on their own good conduct, and less dependent
on the will of others. I believe it will cause them to regard
their country more, their own duty more, and the favor of
individuals less. I think it will contribute to official respect-
ability, to freedom of opinion, to independence of character ;
and I think it will tend, in no small degree, to prevent the
mixture of selfish and personal motives with the exercise of
high political duties. It will promote true and genuine
republicanism, by causing the opinion of the people respect-
ing the measures of government, and the men in gove4n-
ment, to be formed and expressed without fear or favor, and

220 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

with a more entire regard to their true and real merits or
demerits. It will be, so far as its effects reach, an auxiliary
to patriotism and public virtue, in their warfare against self-
ishness and cupidity.

The second check on executive patronage contained in
this bill is of still greater importance than the first. This
provision is, that, whenever the President removes any of
these officers from office, he shall state to the Senate the
reasons for such removal. This part of the bill has been
opposed, both on constitutional grounds and on grounds of
expediency.

The bill, it is to be observed, expressly recognizes and
admits the actual existence of the power of removal. I
do not mean to deny, and the bill does not deny, that, at
the present moment, the President may remove these officers
at will, because the early decision adopted that construction,
and the laws have since uniformly sanctioned it. The law
of 1820, intended to be repealed by this bill, expressly af-
firms the power. I consider it, therefore, a settled point ;
settled by construction, settled by precedent, settled by the
practice of the government, and settled by statute. At the
same time, after considering the question again and again
within the last six years, I am very willing to say, that, in
my deliberate judgipent, the original decision was wrong.
I cannot but think that those who denied the power in 1789
had the best of the argument ; and yet I will not say that I
•know myself so thoroughly as to affirm, that this opinion
may not have been produced, in some measure, by that abuse
of the power which has been passing before our eyes for
several years. It is possible that this experience of the
evil may have affected my view of the constitutional argu-
ment. It appears to me, however, after thorough and re-
peated and conscientious examination, that an erroneous in-
terpretation was given to the Constitution, in this respect, by
the decision of the first Congress.

Mr. President, without pursuing the discussion further, I
will detain the Senate only while I recapitulate the opinions
vi'hich I have expressed ; because I am far less desirous of
influencing the judgment of others, than of making clear
the grounds of nw own iudajment.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 221

I think, then, Sir, that the power of appointment natu-
rally and necessarily includes the power of removal, where
no limitation is exfiressed, nor any tenure but that at will
declared. The power of appointment being conferred on
the President and Senate., I think the power of removal
went along with it, and should have been regarded as a part
of it, and exercised by the same hands. 1 think, conse-
quently, that the decision of 1789, which implied a power
of removal separate from the appointing power, was er-
roneous.

But I think the decision of 1789 has been established by
practice, and recognized by subsequent laws, as the settled
construction of the Constitution, and that it is our duty to
act upon the case, accordingly, for the present ; without
admitting that Congress may not, hereafter, if necessity
shall require it, reverse the decision of 1789. I think the
legislature possesses the power of regulating the condition,
duration, qualification, and tenure of office, in all cases
where the Constitution has made no express provision on
the subject.

I am, therefore, of opinion, that it is competent for Con-
gress to declare by law, as one qualification of the tenure
of office, that the incumbent shall remain in place till the
President shall remove him, for reasons to be stated to the
Senate. And I am of opinion that this qualification, mild
and gentle as it is, will have some effect in arresting the evils
which beset the progress of the government, and seriously
threaten its future prosperity.

RECEPTION AT BANGOR.

Remarks made to the Citizens of Bangor, Maine, on the ^5th of August, 1835. Delivered
from the Balcony of the Hotel.

Fellow-Citizens, — Having occasion to come into the
State on professional business, I have gladly availed myself
of the opportunity to visit this city, the growing magnitude
and importance of which have recently attracted such gen-
eral notice. I am happy to say, that I see around me

222 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ample proofs of the correctness of the favorable representa-
tions which have gone abroad. Your city, Gentlemen, has
certainly experienced an extraordinary growth ; and it is a
growth, I think, which there is reason to hope is not unnat-
ural, or greatly disproportionate to the eminent advantages
of the place. It so happened, that, at an early period of
my life, I came to this spot, attracted by that favorable posi-
tion, which the slightest glance on the map must satisfy
every one that it occupies. It is near the head of tide-
water, on a river which brings to it from the sea a volume
of water equal to the demands of the largest vessels of war,
and whose branches, uniting here, from great distances
above, traverse in their course extensive tracts now covered
with valuable productions of the forest, and capable, most
of them, of profitable agricultural cultivation. But at the
period I speak of, the time had not come for the proper
development and display of these advantages. Neither the
place itself, nor the country, was then ready. A long course
of commercial restrictions and embargo, and a foreign war,
were yet to be gone through, before the local advantages of
such a spot could be exhibited or enjoyed, or the country
would be in a condition to create an active demand for its
main products.

I believe some twelve or twenty houses were all that Ban-
gor could enumerate, when I was in it before ; and I remem-
ber to have crossed the stream which now divides your fair
city on some floating logs, for the purpose of visiting a
former friend and neighbor, who had just then settled here ;
a gentleman always most respectable, and now venerable for
his age and his character, whom I have great pleasure in
seeing among you to-day, in the enjoyment of health and
happiness. •

It is quite obvious. Gentlemen, that while the local advan-
tages of a noble river, and of a large surrounding country,
may be justly considered as the original spring of the pres-
ent prosperity of the city, the current of this prosperity has,
nevertheless, been put in motion, enlarged, and impelled, by
the general progress of improvement, and growth of wealth
throughout the whole country.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 223

At the period of my former visit, there was, of course,
neither raih'oad, nor steamboat, nor canal, to favor commu-
nication ; nor do I recollect that any public or stage coach
came within fifty miles of the town.

Internal improvement (as it is comprehensively called in
this country) has been the great agent of this favorable
change ; and so blended are our interests, that the general
activity which exists elsewhere, supported and stimulated by
internal improvement, pervades and benefits even those por-
tions of the country which are locally remote from the
immediate scene of the main operations of this improvement.
Whatever promotes communication, whatsoever extends gen-
eral business, whatsoever encourages enterprise, or whatso-
ever advances the general wealth and prosperity of other
States, must have a plain, direct, and powerful bearing on
your own prosperity. In truth, there is no town in the
Union, whose hopes can be more directly staked on the gen-
eral prosperity of the country, than this rising city. If any
thing should interrupt the general operations of business, if
commercial embarrassment, foreign war, pecuniary derange-
ment, domestic dissension, or any other causes, were to
arrest the general progress of the public welfare, all must
see with what a blasting and withering effect such a course
must operate on Bangor.

Gentlemen, I have often taken occasion to say, what cir-
cumstances may render it proper now to repeat, that, at the
close of the last war, a new era, in my judgment, had
opened in the United States. A new career then lay before
us. At peace ourselves with the nations of Europe, and
those nations, too, at peace with one another, and the lead-
ing civilized states of the world no longer allowing that car-
rying trade which had been the rich harvest of our neutrality
in the midst of former wars, but all now coming forward to
exercise their own rights, in sharing the commerce and nav-
igation of the world, it seemed to me to be very plain, that,
while our commerce was still to be fostered with the most
zealous care, yet quite a new view of things was presented
to us in regard to our internal pursuits and concerns. The
works of peace, as it seemed to me, had become our duties.

224 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

A hostile exterior, a front of brass, and an arm of iron, all
necessary in the just defence of the country against foreign
aggression, naturally gave place, in a change of circum-
stances, to the attitude, the objects, and the pursuits of peace.
Our true interest, as I thought, was to explore our own
resources, to call forth and encourage labor and enterprise
upon internal objects, to multiply the sources of employment
and comfort at home, and to unite the country by ties of
intercourse, commerce, benefits, and prosperity, in all parts,
as well as by the ties of political association. And it ap-
peared to me that government itself clearly possessed the
power, and was as clearly charged with the duty of helping
on, in various ways, this great business of internal improve-
ment. I have, therefore, steadily supported all measures
directed to that end, which appeared to me to be within the
just power of the government, and to be practicable within
the limits of reasonable expenditure. And if any one would
judge how far the fostering of this spirit has been beneficial
to the country, let him compare its state at this moment
with its condition at the commencement of the late war ;
and let him then say how much of all that has been added
to national wealth and national strength, and to individual
prosperity and happiness, has been the fair result of internal
improvement.

Gentlemen, it has been your pleasure to give utterance to
sentiments expressing approbation of my humble efforts, on
several occasions, in defence and maintenance of the Con-
stitution of the country. I have nothing to say of those
effbrts, except that they have been honestly intended. The
country sees no reason, I trust, to suppose that on those
occasions 1 have taken counsel of any thing but a deep
sense of duty. I have, on some occasions, felt myself called
on to maintain my opinions, in opposition to power, to
place, to official influence, and to overwhelming personal
popularity. I have thought it my imperative duty to put
forth my most earnest effbrts to maintain what I considered to
be the just powers of the government, when it appeared to
me that those to whom its administration was intrusted were
countenancing doctrines inevitably tending to its destruction.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 225

And I have, with far more pleasure, on other occasions, sup-
ported the constituted authorities, when I have deemed their
measures to be called for by a regard to its preservation.

The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, has
appeared to me to have been formed and adopted for two
grand objects. The first is the Union of the States. It is
the bond of that union, and it states and defines its terms.
Who can speak in terms warm enough and high enough of
its importance in this respect, or the admirable wisdom with
which it is formed ? Or who, when he shall have stated the
benefits and blessings which it has conferred upon the States
most strongly, will venture to say that he has done it jus-
tice ? For one, I am not sanguine enough to believe that,
if this bond of union were dissolved, any other tie uniting
all the States would take its place for generations to come.
It requires no common skill, it is no piece of ordinary polit-
ical journey-work, to form a system which shall hold
together four and twenty separate State sovereignties, the
line of wfiose united territories runs down all the parallels
of latitude from New Brunswick to the Gulf of Mexico,
and whose connected breadth stretches from the sea far
beyond the Mississippi. Nor are all times or all occasions
suited to such great operations. It is only under the most
favorable circumstances, and only when great men are called
on to meet great exigencies, only once in centuries, that
such fortunate political results are to be attained. Who-
ever, therefore, undervalues this National Union, whoever
depreciates it, whoever accustoms himself to consider how
the people might get on without it, appears to me to encour-
age sentiments subversive of the foundations of our pros-
perity.

It is true that these twenty-four States are, more or less,
diff'erent in climate, productions, and local pursuits. There
are planting States, grain-growing States, manufacturing
States, and commercial States. But those several interests,
if not identical, are not therefore inconsistent and hostile.
Far from it. They unite, on the contrary, to promote an
aggregate result of unrivalled national happiness. It is not
precisely a case in which
15

226 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

" All nature's clifFerence keeps all nature's peace ; "

but it is a case in which variety of climate and condition,
and diversities of pursuits and productions, all unite to
exhibit one harmonious, grand, and magnificent whole, to
which the world may be proudly challenged to show an
equal. In my opinion, no man, in any corner of any one
of these States, can stand up and declare, that he is less
prosperous or less happy than if the general government
had never existed. Entertaining these sentiments, and feel-
ing their force most deeply, I regard it as the bounden duty
of every good citizen, in public and in private life, to follow
the admonition of Washington, and to cherish that Union
which makes us one people. I most earnestly deprecate,
therefore, whatever occurs, in the government or out of it,
calculated to endanger the Union or disturb the basis on
which it rests.

Another object of the Constitution 1 take to be such as is
common to all written constitutions of free governments ;
that is, to fix limits to delegated authority, or, in other
words, to impose constitutional restraints on political power.
Some, who esteem themselves republicans, seem to think no
other security for public liberty necessary than a provision
for a popular choice of rulers. If political power be dele-
gated power, they entertain little fear of its being abused.
The people's servants and favorites, they think, may be
safely trusted. Our fathers, certainly, were not of this
school. They sought to make assurance doubly sure, by
providing, in the first place, for the election of political
agents by the people themselves, at short intervals, and, in
the next place, by prescribing constitutional restraints on all
branches of this delegated authority. It is not among the
circumstances of the times most ominous for good, that a
diminished estimate appears to be placed on those constitu-
tional securities. A disposition is but too prevalent to sub-
stitute personal confidence for legal restraint ; to put trust
in men rather than in principles ; and this disposition being
strongest, as it most obviously is, whenever party spirit pre-
vails to the greatest extent, it is not without reason that fears

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 227

are entertained of the existence of a spirit tending strongly
to an unlimited, if it be but an elective, government.

Surely, Gentlemen, this government can go through no
sucii change. Long before that change could take place,
the Constitution would be shattered to pieces, and the Union
of the States become matter of past history. To the
Union, therefore, as well as to civil liberty, to every interest
whicli we enjoy and value, to all that makes us proud of
our country, or which renders our country lovely in our
own eyes, or dear to our own hearts, nothing can be more
repugnant, nothing more hostile, nothing more directly
destructive, than excessive, unlimited, unconstitutional confi-
dence in men ; nothing worse, than the doctrine that official
agents may interpret the public will in their own way, in
defiance of the Constitution and the laws ; or that tliey may
set up any thing for the declaration of that will except the
Constitution and the laws themselves ; or that any public
offiicer, high or low, should undertake to constitute himself
or to call himself the representative of the people., except so
far as the Constitution and the laws create and denominate
him such representative. There is no usurpation so danger-
ous as that which comes in the borrowed name of the peo-
ple. If from some other authority, or other source, pre-
rf)gatives be attempted to be enforced upon the people, they
naturally oppose and resist it. It is an open enemy, and
tiiey can easily subdue it. But that which professes to act
in their own name, and by their own authority, that which
calls itself their servant, although it exercises their power
without legal right or constitutional sanction, requires some-
tiiing more of vigilance to detect, and something more of
stern patriotism to repress; and if it be not seasonably both
detected and repressed, then the republic is already in the
downward path of those which have gone before it.

I hold, therefore. Gentlemen, that a strict submission, by
every branch of the government, to the limitations and
restraints of the Constitution, is of the very essence of all
security for the preservation of liberty ; and that no one can
be a true and intelligent friend of that liberty, who will con
sent that any man in public station, whatever he may think

^8 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of the honesty of his motives, shall assume to exercise an
authority above the Constitution and the laws. Whatever
government is not a government of laws, is a despotism, let
it be called what it may.

Gentlemen, on an occasion like this, I ought not to detain
you longer. Let us hope for the best, in behalf of this
great and happy country, and of our glorious Constitution.
Indeed, Gentlemen, we may well congratulate ourselves that
the country is so young, so fresh, and so vigorous, that it
can bear a great deal of bad government. It can take an
enormous load of official mismanagement on its shoulders,
and yet go ahead. Like the vessel impelled by steam, it
can move forward, not only without other than the ordinary
means, but even when those means oppose it ; it can make
its way in defiance of the elements, and

" Against the wind, against the tide,
Still steady, with an upright keel."

There are some things, however, which the country can-
not stand. It cannot stand any shock of civil liberty, or
any disruption of the Union. Should either of these hap-
pen, the vessel of the state will have no longer either steer-
age or motion. She will lie on the billows helpless and
hopeless, the scorn and contempt of all the enemies of free
institutions, and an object of indescribable grief to all their
friends.

PKESENTATION OF A VASE.

Speech delivered at the Odeon, on Occasion of the Presentation of a Silver Vase, by Citizens
of Boston, on the V2th of October, 1835.

The Vase was placed on a pedestal covered with the American Flag,
and contained on its front the following inscription : —

To Daniel Webster, defender of the Constitution of the United States;
from Citizens of Boston, October 12, 1835.

Hon. Francis C. Gray, in behalf of his fellow-citizens, addressed Mr
Webster in a neat and appropriate style, and requested his acceptance
of the Vase.

Mr. Webster replied : —

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 229

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen : — I accept, with grate-
ful respect, tlie present which it is your pleasure to make.
I value it. It bears an expression of your regard for those
political principles which I have endeavored to maintain ;
and though the meiterial were less costly, or the workman-
ship less elegant, any durable evidence of your approbation
could not but give me high satisfaction.

This approbation is the more gratifying, as it is not be-
stowed for services connected with local questions or local
interests, or which are supposed to have been peculiarly
beneficial to yourselves, but for efforts which had the inter-
ests of the whole country for their object, and which were
useful, if useful at all, to all who live under the blessings of
the Constitution and government of the United States.

It is twelve or thirteen years, Gentlemen, since I was hon-
ored with a seat in Congress, by the choice of the citizens
of Boston. They saw fit to repeat that choice more than
once ; and I embrace, with pleasure, this opportunity of ex-
pressing to them my sincere and profound sense of obliga-
tion for these manifestations of confidence. At a later
period, the Legislature of the State saw fit to transfer me to
another place ; and have again renewed the trust, under
circumstances which I have felt to impose upon me new ob-
ligations of duty, and an increased devotion to the political
welfare of the country. These twelve or thirteen years,
Gentlemen, have been years of labor, and not without sacri-
fices ; but both have been more than compensated by the
kindness, the good will, and the favorable interpretation
with which my discharge of official duties has been received.
In this changing world, we can hardly say that we possess
what is present, and the future is all unknown. But the
past is ours. Its acquisitions, and its enjoyments, are safe.
And among these acquisitions, among the treasures of the
past most to be cherished and preserved, I shall ever reckon
the proofs of esteem and confidence which I have received
from the citizens of Boston and the Legislature of Massa-
chusetts.

In one respect. Gentlemen, your present oppresses me.
It overcomes me by its tone of commendation. It assigns

2^3 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

to me a character of which I feel I am not worthy. " The
Defender of the Constitution " is a title quite too high for
me. He who shall prove himself the ablest among the able
men of tbe country, he who shall serve it longest among
those who may serve it long, he on whose labors all the stars
of benignant fortune shall shed their selectest influence, will
have praise enough, and reward enough, if, at the end of his
political and earthly career, though that career may have
been as bright as the track of the sun across the sky, the
marble under which he sleeps, and that much better record,
the grateful breasts of his living countrymen, shall pronounce
him "the Defender of the Constitution." It is enough for
me, Gentlemen, to be connected, in the most humble man-
ner, with the defence and maintenance of this great wonder
of modern times, and this certain wonder of all future times.
It is enough for me to stand in the ranks, and only to be
counted as one of its defenders.

The Constitution of the United States, I am confident,
will protect the name and the memory both of its founders
and of its friends, even of its humblest friends. It will im-
part to both something of its own ever-memorable and en-
during distinction ; I had almost said, something of its own
everlasting remembrance. Centuries hence, when the vicis-
situdes of human affairs shall have broken it, if ever they
shall break it, into fragments, these very fragments, every
shattered column, every displaced foundation stone, shall yet
be sure to bring them all into recollection, and attract to
them the respect and gratitude of mankind.

Gentlemen, it is to pay respect to this Constitution, it is
to manifest your attachment to it, your sense of its value,
and your devotion to its true principles, that you have sought
this occasion. It is not to pay an ostentatious personal
compliment. If it were, it would be unworthy both of
you and of me. It is" not to manifest attachment to in-
dividuals, independent of all considerations of principles ; if
It were, I should feel it my duty to tell you, friends as you
are, that you were doing that which, at this very moment,
constitutes one of the most threatening dangers to the Con-
stitution itself. Your gift would have no value in my eyes,

SELECTIONS PROM WEBSTER. 231

this occasion would be regarded by me as an idle pageant,
if I did not know that they are both but modes chosen by
you, to signify your attachment to the true principles of the
Constitution ; your fixed purpose, so far as in you lies, to
maintain those principles ; and your resolution to support
public men, and stand by them, so long as they shall sup-
port and stand by the Constitution of the country, and no
longer.

" The Constitution of the country ! " Gentlemen, often
as I am called to contemplate this subject, its importance
always rises, and magnifies itself more and more, before me.
I cannot view its preservation as a concern of narrow extent,
or temporary duration. On the contrary, I see in it a vast
interest, which is to run down with the generations of men,
and to spread over a great portion of the earth with a direct,
and over the rest with an indirect, but a most powerful influ-
ence. When I speak of it here, in this thick crowd of
fellow-citizens and friends, I yet behold, thronging about me,
a much larger and more imposing crowd. I see a united
rush of the present and the future. I see all the patriotic
of our own land, and our own time. I see also the many
millions of their posterity, and I see, too, the lovers of hu-
man liberty from every part of the earth, from beneath the
oppressions of thrones, and hierarchies, and dynasties, from
amidst the darkness of ignorance, degradation, and despot-
ism, into whicli any ray of political light has penetrated; I
see all those countless multitudes gather about us, and I hear
their united and earnest voices, conjuring us, in whose
charge the treasure now is, to hold on, and hold on to the
last, by that which is our own highest enjoyment and their
best hope.

Filled with these sentiments, Gentlemen, and having
through my political life hitherto always acted under the deep-
est conviction of their truth and importance, it is natural that
I should have regarded the preservation of the Constitution
as the first great political object to be secured. But 1 claim
no exclusive merit. I should deem it, especially, both unbe-
coming and unjust in me to separate myself, in this respect,
from other public servants of the people of Massachusetts.

232 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The distinguished gentlemen who have prec*'ded and fol-
lowed me in the representation of the city, their associates
from other districts of the State, and my late worthy and
most highly-esteemed colleague, are entitled, one and all,
to a full share in the public approbation. If accidental cir-
cumstances, or a particular position, have sometimes ren-
dered me more prominent, equal patriotism and equal zeal
have yet made them equally deserving. It were invidious
to enumerate these fellow-laborers, or to discriminate among
them. Long may they live ! and I could hardly express a
better wish for the interest and honor of the States, than
that the public men who may follow them may be as dis-
'nterested, as patriotic, and as able as they have proved
themselves.

There have been, Gentlemen, it is true, anxious moments.
That was an anxious occasion, to which the gentleman who
has addressed me in your behalf has alluded ; I mean the de-
bate in .January, 1830. It seemed to me then that the Con-
stitution was about to be abandoned. Threatened with most
serious dangers, it was not only not defended, but attacked,
as I thought, and weakened and wounded in its vital powers
and faculties, by those to whom the country naturally looks
for its defence and protection. It appeared to me that the
Union was about to go to pieces before the people were at all
aware of the extent of the danger. The occasion was not
sought, but forced upon us ; it seemed to me momentous,
and I confess that 1 felt that even the little that I could do, in
such a crisis, was called for by every motive which could be
addressed to a lover of the Constitution. I took a part in
the debate, therefore, with my whole heart already in the
subject, and careless for every thing in the result, except the
judgment which the people of the United States should form
upon the questions involved in the discussion. I believe
that judgment has been definitely pronounced ; but nothing
is due to me, beyond the merit of having made an earnest
effcrt to present the true question to the people, and to in-
voke for it that attention from them, which its high impor-
tance appeared to me to demand.

The Constitution of the United States, Gentlemen, is of

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 233

a peculiar structure. Our whole system is peculiar. It
is fashioned according to no existing; model, likened to no
precedent, and yet founded on principles which lie at the
foundations of all free governments, wherever such govern-
ments exist. It is a complicated system. It is elahorate,
and in some sense artificial, in its composition. We have
twenty-four State sovereignties, all exercising legislative,
judicial, and executive powers. Some of the sovereignties,
or States, had long existed, and, subject only to the restraint
of the power of the parent country, had been accustomed
to the forms and to the exercise of the powers of representa-
tive republics. Others of them are new creations, coming
into existence only under the Constitution itself; but all
now standing on an eqtial footing.

The general government, under which all these States are
united, is not, as has been justly remarked by Mr. Gray, a
confederation. It is much more than a confederation. It
is a popular representative government, with all the depart-
ments, and all the functions and organs, of such a govern-
ment. But it is still a limited, a restrained, a severely
guarded government. It exists under a written constitution,
and all that human wisdom could do is done, to define its
powers and to prevent their abuse. It is placed in what
was supposed to be the safest medium between dangerous
authority on the one hand, and debility and inefficiency on
the other. I think that happy medium was found, by the
exercise of the greatest political sagacity, and the influence
of the highest good fortune. We cannot move the system
either way, without the probabihty of hurtful change ; and
as experience has taught us, its safety, and its usefulness,
when left where it is, our duty is a plain one.

It cannot be doubted that a system thus complicated must
be accompanied by more or less of danger, in every stage
of its existence. It has not the simplicity of despotism. It
is not a plain column, that stands self-poised and self-sup-
ported. Nor is it a loose, irregular, unfixed, and undefined
system of rule, which admits of constant and violent changes,
without losing its character. But it is a balanced and
guarded system ; a system of checks and controls ; a sys-

234 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tern in which powers are carefully delegated^ and as care-
fully limited ; a system in which the symmetry of the parts
is designed to produce an aggregate whole, which shall be
favorable to personal liberty, favorable to public prosperity,
and favorable to national glory. And who can deny, that,
by a trial of fifty years, this American system of govern-
ment has proved itself capable of conferring all these bless-
ings ? These years have been years of great agitation
throughout the civilized world. In the course of them the
face of Europe has been completely changed. Old and
corrupt governments have been destroyed, and new ones,
erected in their places, have been destroyed too, sometimes
in rapid succession. Yet, through all the extraordinary,
the most extraordinary scenes of this half century, the free,
popular, representative government of the United States has
stood, and has afforded security for liberty, for property, and
for reputation, to all citizens.

That it has been exposed to many dangers, that it has
met critical moments, is certain. That it is now exposed
to dangers, and that a crisis is now before it, is equally
clear, in my judgment. But it has hitherto been preserved,
and vigilance and patriotism may rescue it again.

Our dangers. Gentlemen, are not from without. We
have nothing to fear from foreign powers, except those in-
terruptions of the occupations of life which all wars occa-
sion. The dangers to our system, as a system, do not
spring from that quarter. On the contrary, the pressure of
foreign hostility would be most likely to unite us, and to
strengthen our union, by an augmented sense of its utility
and necessity. But our dangers are from within. I do not
now speak of those dangers which have in all ages beset
republican governments, such as luxury among the rich, the
corruption of public officers, and the general degradation of
public morals. I speak only of those peculiar dangers to
which the structure of our government particularly exposes
it, in addition to all other ordinary dangers. These arise
among ourselves ; they spring up at home ; and the evil
which they threaten is no less than disunion, or the over-
throw of the whole system. Local feelings and local parties,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 235

a notion sometimes sedulously cultivated of opposite inter.
ests in different portions of the Union, evil prophecies re-
specting' its duration, cool calculations upon the benefits of
separation, a narrow feeling that cannot embrace all the
States as one country, an unsocial, anti-national, and half-
belligerent spirit, which sometimes betrays itself, — all these
undoubtedly are causes which affect, more or less, our
prospect of holding together. All these are unpropitious
influences.

The Constitution, again, is founded on compromise, and
the most perfect and absolute good faith, in regard to every
stipulation of this kind contained in it, is indispensable to
its preservation. Every attempt to accomplish even the best
purpose, every attempt to grasp that which is regarded as
an immediate good, in violation of these stipulations, is full
of danger to the whole Constitution. I need not say, also,
that possible collision between the general and the State
governments always has been, is, and ever must be, a source
of danger to be strictly watched by wise men.

I desire not to stand before the country as a man of no
opinions, or of such a mixture of opposite opinions that the
result has no character at all. On the contrary, I am de-
sirous of standing as one who is bound to his own con-
sistency by the frankest avowal of his sentiments on all im-
portant and interesting subjects. I am not partly for the
Constitution, and partly against it ; I am wliolly for it, for it
altogether, for it as it is, and for the exercise, when occa-
sion requires, of all its just powers, as they have heretofore
been exercised by Washington, and the great men who have
followed him in its administration.

I disdain, altogether, the character of an uncommitted
man. 1 am committed, fully committed ; committed to the
full extent of all that I am, and all that I hope, to the Con-
stitution of the country, to its love and reverence, to its de-
fence and maintenance, to its warm commendation to every
American heart, and to its vindication and just praise, before
all mankind. And I am committed against every thing
which, in my judgment, may weaken, endanger, or destroy
It. I am committed against the encouragement of local

236 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

parties and local feelings ; I am committed against all fos-
tering of anti-national spirit ; I am committed against the
slightest infringement of the original compromise on which
the Constitution was founded ; I am committed against any
and every derangement of the powers of the several depart-
ments of the government, against any derogation from the
constitutional authority of Congress, and especially against
all extension of executive power ; and I am committed
against any attempt to rule the free people of this country
by the power and the patronage of the government itself.
I am committed, fully and entirely committed, against
leaking the government the people's master.

SLAVERY AND THE SLAVE TRADE IN THE DISTRICT OP

COLUMBIA.

Remarks Tnade in the Senate of the United States, on the 16th of March, 1836, on presenting'
sundry Abolition Petitions.

Agreeably to notice, I offer sundry petitions on the sub-
ject of slavery and the slave trade in the District of Co-
lumbia.

I ask, Sir, that these petitions may be received, and 1
move that they be referred to the Committee on the Dis-
trict of Columbia. This motion itself, Sir, sufficiently shows
in what manner I think this subject ought to be treated in
the Senate.

The petitioners ask Congress to consider the propriety
and expediency of two things ; first, of making provision
for the extinction of slavery in the District ; second, of abol-
ishing or restraining the trade in slaves within the District.
Similar petitions have already been received by the Senate.
Those gentlemen who think Congress have no power over
any part of the subject, if they are clear and settled in that
opinion, were perfectly justifiable in voting not to receive
them. Any petition which, in our opinion, asks us to do
that which is plainly against the Constitution, we might very
justly reject. If persons, for instance, should petition us to
pass a law abridging the freedom of the press, or respecting

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 237

an establishment of religion, such petition would very prop-
erlj be denied any reception at all.

In doubtful cases, we should incline to receive and con-
sider ; because doubtful cases ought not to be decided
without consideration. But I cannot regard this case as a
doubtful one. I think the constitutional power of Congress
over the subject is clear, and therefore that we were bound
to receive the petitions. And a large majority of the Senate
are also of opinion, that petitions of this kind ought to be
received.

I have often, Mr. President, expressed the opinion, that
over slavery, as it exists in the States, this government has
no control whatever. It is entirely and exclusively a State
concern. And while it is thus clear that Congress has no
direct power over the subject, it is our duty to take care
that the authority of this government is not brought to bear
upon it by any indirect interference whatever. It must be
left to the States, to the course of things, and to those causes
over which this government has no control. All this, in my
opinion, is in the clear line of our duty.

On the other hand, believing that Congress has constitu-
tional power over slavery, and the trade in slaves, within
the District, I think petitions on those subjects, respectfully
presented, ought to be respectfully viewed, and respectfully
considered. The respectful mode, the proper mode, is the
ordinary mode. We have a committee on the affairs of the
District. For very obvious reasons, and without any refer-
ence to this question, this committee is ordinarily composed
principally of Southern gentlemen. For many years a
member from Virginia or Maryland has, I believe, been at
the head of the committee. The committee, therefore, is
the appropriate one, and there can be no possible objection
to it on account of the manner in which it is constituted.

Now I believe. Sir, that the unanimous opinion of the
North is, that Congress has no authority over slavery in
the States ; and it is perhaps equally unanimous in the
opinion, that over slavery in the District it has such rightful
authority.

Then, Sir, the question is a question of the fitness, pro-

238 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

priety, justice, and expediency of considering these two
subjects, or either of them, according to the prayer of
these petitions.

It is well known to us and to the country, that Congress
has hitherto entertained inquiries on both these points. On
the 9th of January, 1899, the House of Representatives re-
solved, by very large majorities, *' That the Committee on
the District of Columbia be instructed to take into considera-
tion the laws within the District in respect to slavery ; that
they inquire into the slave trade as it exists in, and is carried
on through, the District ; and that they report to the House
such amendments to the existing laws as shall seem to them
to be just."

It resolved also, " That the committee be further in-
structed to inquire into the expediency of providing by
law for the gradual abolition of slavery within the District,
in such manner that the interest of no individual shall be
injured thereby."

As early as March, 1816, the same House, on the motion
of Mr. Randolph, of Virginia, resolved, " That a committee
be appointed to inquire into the existence of an inhuman
and illegal traffic of slaves carried on in and through the
District of Columbia, and to report whether any, and what,
measures are necessary for putting a stop to the same."

It is known, also, Sir, that the legislature of Pennsyl-
vania has within a very few years urged upon Congress the
propriety of providing for the abolition of slavery in the
District. The House of Assembly of New York, about the
same time, I think, passed a similar vote.

After these proceedings, Mr. President, which were gen-
erally known, I think the country was not at all prepared to
find that these petitions would be objected to on the ground
that they asked for the exercise of an authority on the part
of Congress, which Congress cannot constitutionally exer-
cise ; or that, having been formally received, the prayer of
them, in regard to both objects, would be immediately re-
jected, without reference to a committee, and without any
inquiry.

Now, Sir, the propriety, justice, and fitness of any inter-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 239

ference of Congress, for either of the purposes stated in the
petitions, are the points on which, as it seems to me, it is
highly proper for a committee to make a report. The well
disposed and patriotic among these petitioners are entitled
to be respectfully answered ; and if there be among them
others whose motives are less praiseworthy, it is not the part
of prudence to give them the advantage which they would
derive from a right to complain that the Senate had acted
hastily or summarily on their petitions, without inquiry or
consideration.

Let the committee set forth their own views on these
points, dispassionately, fully, and candidly ; let the argument
be seen and heard ; let the people be trusted with it ; and 1
have no doubt that a fair discussion of tiie subject will pro-
duce its proper effect, both in and out of the Senate.

This, Sir, would have been, and is, the course of proceed-
ing which appears to me to be prudent and just. The Senate,
however, having decided otherwise, by a very large majority,
I only say so much on the present occasion, as may suffice
to make my own opinions known.

In reply to Mr. King, of Alabama, Mr. Webster said :

I am not aware of having said any thing which can jus-
tify the remarks of the honorable member. By what au-
thority does the gentleman say that I have placed myself at
the head of these petitioners ? The gentleman cannot be
allowed. Sir, to assign to me any place or any character
which I do not choose to take to myself. I have only ex-
pressed my opinion as to the course which it is prudent and
wise in us all to adopt, in disposing of these petitions.

It is true that, while the question on the reception of the
petitions was pending, I observed that I should hold back
these petitions till that question was decided. It is decided.
The Senate has decided to receive the petitions ; and being
received, the manner of treating them must necessarily be
settled. The origin of the authority of Congress over this
District ; the views and objects of the States in ceding tiie
territory ; the little interest which this government has in the
general question of slavery, and the great magnitude of the

240 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

interest which individual States have in it ; the great danger
to the government itself of agitating the question here while
things remain in their present posture in the States around
us, — these, Sir, are considerations all intimately belonging
to the question, as I think, and which a competent com-
mittee would naturally present to the Senate and to the
jjublic.

Mr. President, I feel bound to make one further remark.
Whatever gentlemen may think of it, I assure them that
these petitions, at least in many cases, have no factious ori-
gin, no political or party origin. Such may be the origin
of some of them. I am quite sure it is not of all. Many
of them arise from a sense of religious duty ; and that is a
feeling which should be reasoned with, but cannot be sup-
pressed by a mere summary exercise of authority. I wish
that all reasonable men may be satisfied with our proceed-
ings ; and that we may so act in regard to the whole matter
as shall promote harmony, strengthen the bonds of our
Union, and increase the confidence, both of the North and
the South, in this government.

THE LOUISVILLE CANAL.

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the Bill to anthonzc the Purchase, on
the Part of tJie Government, of the Private Stock in the Louisville and Portland Canal,
on tlw ^:-,th of May, 1836.

Mr. President, — I regret the warmth with which my
friend from Ohio,* and my friend from Louisiana,! have
spoken on this occasion; but while I regret it, I can hardly
say 1 blame it. They have expressed disappointment, and I
think they may well feel disappointment. I confess. Sir, I
feel disappointment also. Looking to the magnitude of this
object, looking to its highly-interesting character to the
West, looking to the great concern which pur Western
friends have manifested fot its success, I myself feel, not
oidy disappointment, but, in some degree, mortification, at
the result of the vote which has now been taken. That

*• Mr. Ewing. f Mr. Porter.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. * 241

vote, if it stands, mast be decisive of the success of the
measure.

No doubt. Sir, it is altogether vain to pass this bill, unless
it contain such provisions as will induce the stockholders in
the corporation to part with their interests.

In the first place, Sir, why do we hear so much reproach
and denunciation against the members of this corporation ?
Have they not hazarded their property in an undertaking of
great importance and utility to the country ? Has not Con-
gress itself encouraged their enterprise, by taking a part of
the stock on account of the government ? Are we not our-
selves shareholders in this company ? Their tolls, it is said,
are large ; that is true. Yet not only did they run all the
risks usually attending such enterprises, but, even with their
large tolls, all their receipts, up to this hour, by no means
give a return from their capital equal to the ordinary interest
of money in that part of the country.

Tliere appears to me very great injustice in speaking of
their tolls as " fines," and "penalties," and unjust impositions,
or of their charter as an odious monopoly. Who called it
so, or who so thought of it when it was granted to them 1
Who but they were willing to undertake the work, to ad-
vance the money, and to run the risks and chances of failure 1
Who then blamed, reproached, or denounced the enterprising
individuals who hazarded their money in a project to make
a canal around the Falls of the Ohio 1 Who then spoke
of their tolls as impositions, fines, and penalties 1 Nobody,
Sir. Then all was encouragement and cheering onward.
The cry was then. Go on ! run the hazard ; try the experi-
ment ; let our vessels and boats have a passage round this
obstruction ; make an eflfort to overcome this great obstacle.
If you fail, the loss, indeed, will be yours; but if you suc-
ceed, all the world will agree that you ought to be fairly and
fully remunerated for the risk and expenditure of capital.

Sir, we are bound in all justice and fairness to respect the
legal rights of these corporators. For one, I not only re-
spect their legal rights, but I honor their enterprise, I com-
mend their perseverence, and I think they deserve well of
the community.
16

242 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

But nevertheless, Sir, I am for making this navigation
free. If there were no canal, I should be for making one,
or for devising other modes of removing the obstructions in
the river. As there is a canal, now the subject of private
ownership and private property, I am for buying it out, and
opening it, toll free, to all who navigate the river. In my
opinion, this work is of importance enough to demand the
attention of government. To be sure it is but a canal, and
a canal round the falls of a river ; but that river is the Ohio.
It is one of those vast streams which form a part of the
great water communication of the West. It is one of those
running seas which bear on their bosom the riches of West-
ern commerce. It is a river ; but to the uses of man, to
the purposes of trade, to the great objects of communica-
tion, it is one of those rivers which has the character of an
ocean. Indeed, when one looks at the map, and glances his
eye on all these rivers, he sees at once water enough to con-
stitute or to fill an ocean, pouring from different, distant, and
numerous sources, and flowing many thousand miles, in
various channels, with breadth and depth of water in each
sufficient for all the purposes of rapid communication and
extensive trade. And if, in any portion of these inland seas,
we find obstructions which the hand of man can remove,
who can say that such removal is not an object worthy the
attention of government 1

Whoever, Mr. President, would do his duty, and his whole
duty, in the councils of this government, must look upon the
country as it is, in its whole length and breadth. He must
comprehend it in its vast extent, its novel character, its sud-
den development, its amazing progress, confounding all cal-
culation, and almost overwhelming the imagination. Our
rivers are not the rivers of the European world. We have
not to deal with the Trent, the Thames, and the Severn.
With us, at least in this part of our country, navigation from
the sea does not stop where the tide stops. Our ports and
harbors are not at the mouths of rivers only, or at the head
of the tides of the sea. Hundreds of miles, nay, thousands
of miles, beyond the point where the tides of the ocean are
felt, deep waters spread out, and capacious harbors open

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. ' 243

themselves to the reception of a vast and increasing navi-
gation.

To be sure, Sir, this is a work of internal improvement;
but it is not on that account either the less constitutional or
the less important. Sir, I have taken a part in this great strug-
gle for internal improvement from the beginning, and I shall
hold out to the end. Whoever may follow, or whoever
may fly, I shall go straightforward for all tliose constitutional
powers, and for all that liberal policy, which 1 have hereto-
fore supported.

I remember. Sir, and, indeed, a very short memory might
retain the recollection, when the first appropriations for har-
bors on the great lakes were carried through this body, not
without the utmost difficulty, and against the most deter-
mined opposition. I remember when Lake Ontario, Lake
Erie, and Lake Michigan were likely to be condemned to a
continuance in the state in which nature and the Indian
tribes had left them, with no proof upon their shores of the
policy of a civilized state, no harbors for the shelter of a
hundred vessels, no lighthouse even to point out to the inland
navigator the dangers of his course. 1 remember even when
the harbor of Buffalo was looked upon either as unimportant
in itself, or, if not imimportant, yet as shut out from the care
and the aid of Congress by a constitutional interdiction of
works of internal improvement. But, Sir, in this case, as
in others, the doctrine of internal improvement has estab-
lislied itself by its own necessity, its own obvious and con-
fessed utility, and the benefits which it has already so widely
conferred. So it will be, I have no doubt, in the case before
us. We shall wonder hereafter who could doubt the pro-
priety of setting free the navigation of the Ohio, and shall
wonder that it was delayed even so long.

Mr. President, on the question of constitutional power, I
entertain not a particle of doubt. How is it, let me ask,
that we appropriate money for harbors, piers, and break-
waters on the sea coast ? Where do we find power for
this ? Certainly in no part of the Constitution in which we
cannot find equal power to pass this biU. The same clause
covers such appropriations, inland as well as on the sea coast,

244 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

or else it covers neither. We have foreign commerce, and
we have internal commerce ; and the power, and the duty
also, of regulating, protecting, aiding, and fostering both, is
given in the same words. For one, therefore. Sir, I look to
the magnitude of the object, and not to its locality. I ask
not whether it be east or west of the mountains. There are
no Alleghanies in my politics.

I care not wliether it be an improvement on the shore of
the sea, or on the shore of one of those mighty rivers, so
much hke a sea, which flow through our vast interior. It is
enough for me to know that the object is a good one, an im-
portant one, within the scope of our powers, and called for
by the fair claims of our commerce. So that it be in the
Union, so that it be within the twenty-four States, or the
twenty-six States, it cannot be too remote for me. This
feeling, Sir, so natural, as I think, to true patriotism, is the
dictate also of enhghtened self-interest. Were I to look
only to the benefits of my own immediate constituents, I
should still support this measure. Is not our commerce
floating on these Western rivers 1 Are not our manufactures
ascending them all, by day and night, by the power of steam,
which is incessantly impelling a thousand engines, and forcing
upwards, against their currents, hundreds of thousands of
tons of freight 1 If these cargoes be lost, if they be in-
jured, if their progress be delayed, if the expense of their
transportation be increased, who does not see that all inter-
ested in them become suflerers 1 Who does not see that
every producer, every manufacturer, every trader, every
laborer, has an interest in these improvements ? Surely,
Sir, this is one of the cases in which the interest of the
whole is the interest of each. Every man has his dividend
out of this augmented public advantage. But if it were not
so, if the eftect were more local, if the work were useful to
the Western States alone, or useful mainly to Kentucky and
Indiana alone, still I should think it a case fairly within our
power, and important enough to demand our attention.

But, Mr. President, I felt the more pain at the result of
the last vote of the Senate on account of those Western
gentlemen who are so much interested in this measure, and

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 245

tvho have uniformly supported appropriations for other parts
of the country, which, thougli just and proper, are, as it
seems to me, no more just and proper than this.

These friends have stood by us. They have uniformly
been found at our side, in the contest about internal im-
provement. They have upheld that policy, and have gone
with us through good report and evil report. And I now
tell them that I shall stand by them. I shall be found
where they look for me. I have asked their votes, once
and again, for objects important to the Atlantic States.
They have liberally given those votes. They have acted
like enlightened and wise statesmen. I have duly estimated
the high justice and liberality of their conduct. And hav-
ing now an object interesting to them and to their constit-
uents, a just object and a great object, they have a right to
find me at their side, acting with them, acting according to
my own principles, and proving my own consistency. And
so they shall find me ; and so they do find me. On this
occasion I am with them ; I am one of them. I am as
Western a man, on this bill, as he among them who 'is most
Western. This chair must change its occupant, another
voice will address the Senate from this seat, before an object
of this nature, so important, so constitutional, so expedient,
so highly desirable to a great portion of the country, and so
useful to the whole, shall fail here, for the want, either of a
decisive vote in its support, or of an earnest recommendation
of it to the support of others.

PROTEST AGAINST THE EXPUNGING RESOLUTION.

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the IGth of January, 1837, by Way
of Protest against expunging the Resolution of the 28th of March, 1834, from the
Journal.

Mr. President, — Upon the truth and justice of the
original resolution of the Senate, and upon the authority of
the Senate to pass that resolution, I had an opportunity to
express my opinions at a subsequent period, when the Pres-

246 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ident's Protest was before us. Those opinions remain
altogether unchanged.

And now, had the Constitution secured the privilege of
entering a Protest on the journal, I should not say one
word on this occasion ; although, if what is now proposed
shall be accomplished, I know not what would have been the
value of such a protest, however formally or carefully it
might have been inserted in the body of that instrument.

But as there is no such constitutional privilege, I can only
effect my purpose by thus addressing the Senate ; and I
rise, therefore, to make that PROTEST in this manner, in
the face of the Senate and in the face of the country, which
I cannot present in any other form.

I speak in my own behalf, and in behalf of my col-
league ; we both speak as Senators from the State of Mas-
sachusetts, and, as such, we solemnly protest against this
whole proceeding.

We deny that Senators from other States have any power
or authority to expunge any vote or votes which we have
given h%re, and which we have recorded, agreeably to the
express provision of the Constitution.

We have a high personal interest, and the State whose
representatives we are has also a high interest, in the pres-
ervation entire of every part and parcel of the record of our
conduct, as members of the Senate.

This record the Constitution solemnly declares shall be
hept ; but the resolution before the Senate declares that this
record shall be expunged.

Whether subterfuge and evasion, and, as it appears to us,
the degrading mockery of drawing black lines upon the
journal, shall or shall not leave our names and our votes
legible, when this violation of the record shall have been
completed, still the terms " to expunge " and the terms " to
keep," when applied to a record, import ideas exactly con-
tradictory ; as much so as the terms " to preserve " and the
terms " to destroy."

A record which is expunged is not a record which is hpt^
any more than a record which is destroyed can be a record

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 247

which is preserved. The part expunged is no longer part of
the record ; it has no longer a legal existence. It cannot
be certified as a part of the proceedings of the Senate for
any purpose of proof or evidence.

The object of the provision in the Constitution, as we
think, most obviously is, that the proceedings of the Senate
shall be preserved in writing, not for the present only, not
until published only, because a copy of the printed journal
is not regular legal evidence ; but preserved indefinitely ;
preserved, as other records are preserved, till destroyed by
time or accident.

Every one must see that matters of the highest impor-
tance depend on the permanent preservation of the journals
of the two houses. What but the journals show that bills
have been regularly passed into laws, through the several
stages ; what but the journals show who are members, or
who is President, or Speaker, or Secretary, or Clerk of the
body 1 What but the journals contain the proof necessary
for the justification of those who act under our authority,
and who, without the power of producing such proof, must
stand as trespassers 1 What but the journals show who is
appointed, and who rejected, by us, on the President's nom-
ination ; or who is acquitted, or who convicted, in trials on
impeachment ? In short, is there, at any time, any other
regular and legal proof of any act done by the Senate than
the journal itself?

The idea, therefore, that the Senate is bound to preserve
its journal only until it is published, and then may alter,
mutilate, or destroy it at pleasure, appears to us one of the
most extraordinary sentiments ever advanced.

We feel grateful to those friends who have shown, with
so much clearness, that all the precedents relied on to jus-
tify or to excuse this proceeding are either not to the pur-
pose, or, from the times and circumstances at and under
which they happened, are no way entitled to respect in a free
government, existing under a written constitution. But for
ourselves, we stand on the plain words of that Constitution
itself. A thousand precedents elsewhere made, whether

248 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ancient or modern, can neither rescind, nor control, nof
explain away these words.

The words are, that " each house shall keep a journal of
its proceedings." No gloss, no ingenuity, no specious inter-
pretation, and much less any fair or just reasoning, can
reconcile the process of expunging with the plain meaning
of these words, to the satisfaction of the common sense and
honest understanding of mankind.

If the Senate may now expunge one part of the journal
of a former session, it may, with equal authority, expunge
another part, or the whole. It may expunge the entire
record of any one session, or of all sessions.

It seems to us inconceivable how any men can regard
such a power, and its exercise at pleasure, as consistent with
the injunction of the Constitution. It can make no differ-
ence what is the completeness or incompleteness of the act
of expunging, or by what means done ; whether by erasure,
obliteration, or defacement ; if by defacement, as here pro-
posed, whether one word or many words are written on the
face of the record ; whether little ink or much ink is shed
on the paper; or whether some part, or the whole, of the
original written journal may yet by possibility be traced.
If the act done be an act to expunge, to blot out, to obliter-
ate, to erase the record, then the record is expunged, blotted
out, obliterated, and erased. And mutilation and alteration
violate the record as much as obliteration or erasure. A
record, subsequently altered, is not the original record. It
no longer gives a just account of the proceedings of the
Senate. It is no longer true. It is, in short, no journal of
the real and actual proceedings of the Senate, such as the
Constitution says each house shall keep.

The Constitution, therefore, is, in our deliberate judg-
ment, violated by this proceeding, in the most plain and
open manner.

The Constitution, moreover, provides that the i/eas and
nays, on any question, shall, at the request of one fifth of
the members present, be entered on the journal. This pro-
vision, most manifestly, gives a personal right, to thosif

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 249

members who may demand it, to the entry and preservation
of their votes on the record of the proceedings of the body,
not for one day or one year only, but for all time. There
the yeas and nays are to stand, for ever, as permanent and*
lasting proof of the manner in which members have voted
on great and important questions before them.

But it is now insisted that the votes of members taken by
yeas and nays, and thus entered on the journal, as matter of
right, may still be expunged ; so that that which it requires
more than four fifths of the Senators to prevent from being
put on the journal may, nevertheless, be struck off, and
erased, the next moment, or at any period afterwards, by
the will of a mere majority; or if this be denied, then the
absurdity is adopted of maintaining that this provision of
the Constitution is fulfilled by merely preserving the yeas
and nays on the journal, after having expunged and obliter-
ated the very resolution, or the very question, on which they
were given, and to which alone they refer ; leaving the yeas
and nays thus a mere list of names, connected with no sub-
ject, no question, no vote. We put it to the impartial judg-
ment of mankind, if this proceeding be not in this respect
also directly and palpably inconsistent with the Constitution.
We protest, in the most solemn manner, that other Sena-
tors have no authority to deprive us of our personal rights,
secured to us by the Constitution, either by expunging, or
obliterating, or mutilating, or defacing the record of our
votes, duly entered by yeas and nays ; or by expunging and
obliterating the resolutions or questions on which these votes
were given and recorded.

We have seen, with deep and sincere pain, the legisla-
tures of respectable States instructing the Senators of those
States to vote for and support this violation of the journal
of the Senate ; and this pain is infinitely increased by our
full belief, and entire conviction, that most, if not all, these
proceedings of States had their origin in promptings from
Washington ; that they have been urgently requested and
insisted on, as being necessary to the accomplishment of the
intended purpose ; and that it is nothing else but the influ-
ence and power of the executive branch of this government

250 CONSTITUTIONAL, TEXT BOOK.

which has brought the legislatures of so many of the free
States of this Union to quit the sphere of their ordinary
duties, for the purpose of cooperating to accomphsh a meas-
.ure, in our judgment, so unconstitutional, so derogatory to
the character of the Senate, and marked with so broad an
impression of comphance witlr power.

But this resolution is to pass. We expect it. Tliat
cause which has been powerful enough to influence so many
State legislatures will show itself powerful enough, espe-
cially with such aids, to secure the passage of the resolution
here.

We make up our minds to behold the spectacle which is
to ensue. We collect ourselves to look on in silence, while
a scene is exhibited, which, if we did not regard it as a
ruthless violation of a sacred instrument, would appear to
us to be little elevated above the character of a contempti-
ble farce. This scene we shall behold, and hundreds of
American citizens, as many as may crowd into these lobbies
and galleries, will behold it also ; with what feelings I do
not undertake to say.

But we PROTEST, we most solemnly protest, against the
substance and against the manner of this proceeding ; against
its object, against its form, and against its effect. We tell
you that you have no right to mar or mutilate the record of
our votes given here, and recorded according to the Consti-
tution ; we tell you that we may as well erase the yeas, and
nays on any other question or resolution, or on all ques-
tions and resolutions, as on this ; we tell you that you have
just as much right to falsify the record, by so altering it as
to make us appear to have voted on any question as we did
not vote, as you have to erase a record, and make that page
a blank in which our votes, as they were actually given and
recorded, now stand. The one proceeding, as it appears to
us, is as much a falsification of the record as the other.

Having made this PROTEST, our duty is performed
We rescue our own names, character, and honor from all
particij)ation in this matter ; and whatever the wayward
character of the times, the headlong and plunging spirit of
party devotion, or the fear or the love of power, may have

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 251

been able to bring about elsewhere, we desire to thank God
that they have not, as yet, overcome the love of liberty,
fidelity to true republican principles, and a sacred regard
for the Constitution, in that State whose soil was drenched
to a mire by the first and best blood of the Revolution.
Massachusetts, as yet, has not been conquered ; and while
we have the honor to hold seats here as her Senators, we
shall never consent to the sacrifice either of her rights or
our own ; we shall never fail to. oppose what we regard as a
plain and open violation of the Constitution of the country ;
and we should have thought ourselves wholly unworthy of
her, if we had not, with all the solemnity and earnestness in
our power, protested against the adoption of the resolu-
tion now before tlie Senate.

A NATIONAL BANK.

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the 8th of February, 1837, on pre-
senting a Petition of a large JSTiimber of the Mercliants ofJVew York, for the Establish-
ment of a JVational Bank.

I RISE, Mr. President, for the purpose of presenting to
the Senate a petition signed by fourteen or fifteen hundred
mercantile houses in the city of New York, praying for the
establishment of a national bank in that city. These peti-
tioners. Sir, set forth that, in their opinion, a national bank
is the only remedy of a permanent character for the correc-
tion of the evils now aifecting the currency of the country
and the commercial exchanges. The petition is accom-
panied by a short communication from the committee raised
for the purpose of preparing the petition, in which they
state, what I believe to be true, from some knowledo-e of my
own, that the petition is subscribed without reference to
political distinctions ; and they inform us, on the authority
of their own observation and knowledge, that, in their opin-
ion, on no subject did the mercantile community of New
York ever address Congress with more entire unanimity
than they now approach it, in favor of a national bank.

Mr. President, my own opinions on this subject have long

252 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

been known ; and they remain now what thej always have
been. The constitutional power of Congress to create a
bank is made more apparent by the acknowledged necessity
which the government is under to use some sort of banks
as fiscal agents. The argument stated the other day by the
member from Ohio, opposite to me, and w^hich I liave sug-
gested often heretofore, appears to me unanswerable ; and
that is, that, if the government has the power to use corpo-
rations in the fiscal concerns of the country, it must have
the power to create such corporations. I have always
thought that, when, by law, both houses of Congress de-
clared the use of State banks necessary to the administra-
tion of the revenue, every argument against the constitu-
tional power of Congress to create a Bank of the United
States was thereby surrendered ; that it is plain that, if Con-
gress has the -power to adopt banks for the particular use
of the government, it has the power to create such institu-
tions also, if it deem that mode the best. No government
creates corporations for the mere purpose of giving exist-
ence to an artificial body. It is the end designed, the use
to which it is to be applied, tli.at decides the question, in
general, v/hether the power exists to create such bodies. If
such a corporation as a bank be necessary to government;
if its use be indispensable, and if, on that ground. Congress
may take into its service banks created by States, over
which it has no control, and which are but poorly fitted for
its purposes, how can it be maintained that Congress may
not create a bank, by its own authority, responsible to itself,
and well suited to promote the ends designed by it ?

Mr. President, when the subject was last before the Sen-
ate, I expressed my own resolution not to make any move-
ment towards the establishment of a national bank, till public
opinion should call for it. In that resolution I still remain.
But it gives me pleasure to have the opportunity of present-
ing this petition, out of respect to the signers ; and I have
no unwillingness certainly to have a proper opportunity of
renewing the expression of my opinions on the subject,
although I know that, so general has become the impression
hostile to such an institution, any movement here would be

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 253

vain till there is a change in public opinion. That there
will be such a change I . fully believe ; it will be brought
about, I think, by experience and sober reflection among the
people ; and when it shall come, then will be the proper
time for a movement on the subject in the public councils.
Not only in New York, but from here to Maine, 1 believe it
is now the opinion of five sixths of the whole mercantile
community, that a national bank is indispensable to thp
steady regulation of the currency, and the facility and
cheapness of exchanges. The board of trade at New York
presented a memorial in favor of the same object some time
ago. The Committee on Finance reported against the
prayer of the petitioners, as was to have been expected
from the known sentiments of a majority of that com-
mittee. In presenting this petition now to the consideration
of the Senate, I have done all that I purpose on this occa-
sion, except to move that the petition be laid on the table
and printed.

Sir, on the subjects of currency and of the exchanges of
commerce, experience is likely to make us wiser than wo
now are. These highly-interesting subjects, interesting to
the property, the business, and the means of support of all
classes, ought not to be connected with mere party questions
and temporary politics. In the business and transactions
of life, men need security, steadiness, and a permanent sys-
tem. This is the very last field for the exhibition of exper-
iments, and I fervently hope that intelligent men, in and out
of Congress, will cooperate in measures which may be rea-
sonably expected to accomplish these desirable objects, de-
sirable and important alike to all classes and descriptions of
people.

254 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

THE MADISON PAPERS.

Remarks made in the Senate of the United States, on the 'ZOth of February, 1837, in Rela ■
tion to the Purchase of the Manuscript Papers of Mr. Madison.

Mr. President, — I suppose there is no member of the
Senate who regards the sum proposed to be given for these
manuscripts as too large, if the appropriation is within the
just field of our constitutional powers. Now, what is the
object of this appropriation 1 The Senate sits under a Con-
stitution which has now endured more than fifty years, which
was formed under very peculiar circumstances, under a great
exigency, and in a manner in which no constitution was
ever formed in any other country, on principles of united
and yet divided legislation, altogether unexampled in the
history of free states. I agree fully in the sentiment that
the constant rule of interpretation to be applied to this in-
strument is, that its restrictions are contained in itself, and
that it is to be made, as far as possible, its own interpreter.
I also agree that the practice under the government, for a
long course of years, and the opinions of those who both
formed the instrument, and afterward aided in carrying it
into effect by laws passed under its authority, are to be the
next source of interpretation; and it seems to me that the
measure now proposed is of great importance, both in con-
nection with the Constitution itself, and with the history of
its interpretation. I shall not now speak of the political
opinions of Mr. Madison. I look only to the general facts
of the case. It is well known that the convention of great
men who formed our Constitution sat with closed doors ;
that no report of their proceedings was published at that
time ; and that their debates were listened to by none but
themselves and the officers in attendance. We have, indeed,
the official journal kept by their order. It is an important
document, but it informs us only of their official acts. We
get from it nothing whatever of the debates of that illustri-
ous body. Besides this, there are only a few pubhshed
sketches, more or less valuable. But the connection of Mr.
Madison with the Constitution and the government, and his
profound knowledge of all that related to both, would neces-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 255

sarily give to any reports which he should have taken a su-
perior clainGi to accuracy. It was his purpose, when he en-
tered the body, to report its whole proceedings. He chose
a position which best enabled him to do so ; nor was he ab-
sent a single day during the whole period of its sittings. It
was further understood that his report of the leading speech-
es had been submitted to the members for correction. The
fact was well known to them all, that he was thus collecting
materials for a detailed report of their proceedings. With-
out, therefore, seeing a page of these manuscripts, it is rea-
sonable to conclude that they must contain matter not only
highly interesting, but very useful ; and it is my impression
that, among this class of cases, the Senate could not better
consult the wishes and interests of the American people than
by letting them see a document of this character, from the
pen of such a man as Mr. Madison. That gentleman was
more connected with the Constitution than almost any other
individual. He was present in that little assemblage that
met at Annapolis in 1786, with whom the idea of the Con-
vention originated. He was afterwards a member of the
convention of Virginia which ratified the Constitution. He
was next a member of the first Congress, and took an im-
portant lead in the great duties of its legislation under that
Constitution in the formation of which he had acted so con-
spicuous a part. He afterwards filled the important station
of Secretary of State, and was subsequently for eight years
President of the United States. Thus, his whole life was
intimately connected, first with the formation, and then with
the administration, of the Constitution.

Mr. President, I see no constitutional objection to the
purchase of these manuscripts. Why do Congress pur-
chase every year works on history, geography, botany, met-
aphysics, and morals 1 How was it that they purchased a
collection of works of the most miscellaneous character
from Mr. Jefferson 1 The manuscripts in question stand in
a different relation. They relate immediately and intimately
to t'ne nation's own affliirs, and especially to the construction
of that great instrument under which the houses of Con-
gress are now sitting. If the doctrine advanced by the

256 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Senator from South Carolina is to prevail, Congress ought
forthwith to clear its library of every thing but the state
papers. My views on the Constitution are well known ;
whether an inspection of these papers will confirm and
strengthen the views I entertain respecting that instrument,
I cannot say ; but certainly, if they were now within ray
reach, I should be very eager to read them ; and their ex-
amination would be one of the very first things that I should
engage in. A report of such debates, from such a pen, can-
not but be of the highest importance, and its perusal is well
calculated to gratify a rational curiosity. It may throw
much light on the early interpretation of the Constitution,
and on the nature and structure of our government. But
while it produces this effect, it may do more than all other
things to show to the people of the United States through
what conciliation, through what a temper of compromise,
through what a just yielding of the judgment of one indi-
vidual to that of another, through wliat a spirit of manly
brotherly love, that assembly of illustrious men were ena-
bled finally to agree upon the form of a Constitution for
their country, and succeeded in conferring so great a good
upon the American people.

♦ —

RECEPTION AT MADISON.
Speech delivered at Madison, in the State of Indiana, on the 1st of June, 1837.

Governor Hendricks presided, and Mr. Marsh addressed Mr. Web-
ster, and sincerely and cordially welcomed him to Madison.
Mr. Webster replied : —

If, fellow-citizens, I can make myself heard by this nu-
merous assembly, speaking, as I do, in the open air, I will
return to you my heartfelt thanks for the kindness you have
shown me. I come among you a stranger. On the day
before yesterday I placed my foot, for the first time, on the
soil of the great and growing State of Indiana. Although
I have hved on terms of great intimacy and friendship vrith
several Western gentlemen, members of Congress, among

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 257

whom is your estimable townsman near me, (Governor
Hendricks,) I have never before had an opportunity of seeing
and forming an acquaintance for myself with my fellow-
citizens of this section of the Union. I travel for this pur-
pose. I confess that I regard with astonishment the evi-
dences of intelligence, enterprise, and refinement every where
exhibited around me, when I think of the short time that
has elapsed since the spot where I stand was a howling wil-
derness. Since I entered public life, this State was unknown
as a political government. All the country west of the Al-
leghanies and north-west of the Ohio constituted but "one
Territory, entitled to a single delegate in the councils of
the nation, having the right to speak, but not to vote.
Since then, the States of Ohio, Indiana, Ilhnois, Michigan,
and the long strip of country known as the Territory of
Wisconsin, have been carved out of it. Indiana, which
numbers but twenty years since the commencement of her
political existence, contains a population of six hundred
thousand, equal to the population of Massachusetts, a State
of two hundred years' duration. In age she is an infant ;
in strength and resources a giant. Her appearance indi-
cates the full vigor of maturity, while, measured by her
years, she is yet in the cradle.

Although 1 reside in a part of the country most remote
from you, although I have seen you spring into existence
and advance with rapid strides in the march of prosperity
and power, until your population has equalled that of my
own State, which you far surpass in fertility of soil and
mildness of climate ; yet these things have excited in me
no feelings of dislike, or jealousy, or envy. On the con-
trary, I have witnessed them with pride and pleasure, when
I saw in them the growth of a member of our common
country ; and with feelings warmer than pride, when I
recollect that there are those among you who are bone of
my bone and flesh of my flesh, who inherit my name and
share my blood. When they came to me for my advice,
before leaving their hearths and homes, I did not oppose
their desires or suggest difficulties in their paths. I told
them, " Go and join your destinies with those hardy pio-
17

258 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

neers of the West, share their hardships, and partake tlieir
fortunes; go, and God speed you; only carry with you
your own good principles, and whether the sun rises on
you, or sets on you, let it warm American hearts in your
bosoms."

Though, as I observed, I live in a part of the country
most remote from you, fellow-citizens, I have been no inat-
tentive observer of your history and progress. I have heard
of the reports made in your legislature, and the acts passed
in pursuance thereof. I have traced on the map of your
State the routes marked out for extensive turnpikes, rail-
roads, and canals. I have read with pleasure the acts pro-
viding for their establishment and completion. I do not
pretend to offer you my advice ; it would perhaps be pre-
sumptuous ; but you will permit me to say, that, as far as I
have examined them, they are conceived in wisdom, and
evince great political skill and foresight. You have com-
menced at the right point. To open the means of com-
munication, by which man may, when he wishes, see the face
of his friend, should be the first work of every government.
We may theorize and speculate about it as we please — we
may understand all the metaphysics of politics ; but if men
are confined to the narrow spot they inhabit, because they
have not the means of travelling when they please, they
must go back to a state of barbarism. Social intercourse
is the corner stone of good government. The nation that
provides no means for the improvement of its communica-
tions, has not taken the first step in civilization. Go on,
then, as you have begun ; prosecute your works with energy
and perseverance ; be not daunted by imaginary difficulties,
be not deterred by exaggerated calculations of their cost.
Go on ; open your wilderness to the sun ; turn up the soil ;
and in the wide-spread and highly-cultivated fields, the
smiling villages, and the busy towns that will spring up from
the bosom of the desert, you will reap a rich reward for
your investment and industry.

Another of the paramount objects of government, to
which I rejoice to see that you have turned your attention, is
education. I speak not of college education, nor of academy

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 259

education, though they are of great importance; I speak
of free school education, common school education.

Among the luminaries in the sky of New England, the
burning hghts which throw intelligence and happiness on
her people, the first and most brilhant is her system 3f com-
mon schools. I congratulate myself that my first speech on
entering public life was in their behalf Education, to ac-
complish the ends of good government, should be universally
diffused. Open the doors of the school house to all the
children in the land. Let no man have the excuse of pov-
erty for not educating his own offspring. Place the means
of education within his reach, and if they remain in igno-
rance, be it his own reproach. If one object of the expendi-
ture of your revenue be protection against crime, you could
not devise a better or cheaper means of obtaining it. Other
nations spend their money in providing means for its detec-
tion and punishment, but it is the principle of our govern-
ment to provide for its never occurring. The one acts by
coercion, the other hj prevention. On the diflfusion of educa-
tion among the people rest the preservation and perpetua-
tion of our free institutions. I apprehend no danger to our
country from a foreign foe. The prospect of a war with
any powerful nation is too remote to be a matter of calcu-
lation. Besides, there is no nation on earth powerful
enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction,
should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From
the inattention of the people to the concerns of their govern-
ment, from their carelessness and negligence, I must confess
that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place
too implicit a confidence in their pubhc servants, and fail
properly to scrutinize their conduct ; that in this way they
may be made the dupes of designing men, and become the
instruments of their own undoing. Make them intelligent,
and they will be vigilant ; give them the means of detecting
the wrong, and they will apply the remedy.

The gentleman who has just addressed me in such flat-
tering, but unmerited terms, has been pleased to make kind
mention of my devotion to the Constitution, and my humble
elForts in its support. I claim no merit on that a(?;ount.

260 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

It results from my sense of its surpassing excellences, which
must strike every man who attentively and impartially ex-
amines it. I regard it as the work of the purest patriots
and wisest statesmen that ever existed, aided by the smiles
of a benignant Providence ; for when we regard it as a
system of government growing out of the discordant opin-
ions and conflicting interests of thirteen independent States,
it almost appears a Divine interposition in our behalf. I
have always, with the utmost zeal and the moderate abilities
I possess, striven to prevent its infraction in the slightest
particular. I believed, if that bond of union were broken,
we should never again be a united people. Where, among
all the political thinkers, the constitution makers and the
constitution menders of the day, could we find a man to
make us another ? Who would even venture to propose a
reunion ? Where would be the starting point, and what
the plan ? I do not expect miracles to follow each other.
No plan could be proposed that would be adopted ; the
hand that destroys the Constitution rends our Union asunder
for ever.

My friend has been pleased to remember, in his address,
my humble support of the constitutional right of Congress
to improve the navigation of our great internal rivers, and
to construct roads through the different States. It is well
known that few persons entertain stronger opinions on this
subject than myself. Believing that the great object of the
Union is to secure the general safety and promote the gen-
eral welfare, and that the Constitution was designed to point
out the means of accomplishing these ends, I have always
been in favor of such measures as I deemed for the general
benefit, under the restrictions and limitations prescribed by
the Constitution itself I supported them with my voice,
and my vote, not because they were for the benefit of the
W^est, but because they were for the benefit of the whole
country. That they are local in their advantages, as well
as in their construction, is an objection that has been and will
be urged against every measure of the kind. In a country
so widely extended as ours, so diversified in its interests
and in the character of its people, it is impossible that the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 261

t

operation of any measure should affect all alike. Each
has its own peculiar interest, whose advancement it seeks ;
we have the sea coast, and you the nohle river that flows at
your feet. So it must ever he. Go to the smallest govern-
ment in the world, the republic of San Marino, in Italy,
possessing a territory of but ten miles square, and you will
find its citizens, separated but by a few miles, having some
interests which, on account of local situation, are separate
and distinct. There is not on the face of the earth a plain,
five miles in extent, whose inhabitants are all the same in
their pursuits and pleasures. Some will live on a creek,
others near a hill, which, when any measure is proposed
for the general benefit, will give rise to jarring claims and
opposing interests. In such cases, it has always appeared
to me that the point to be examined was, whether the prin-
ciple was general. If the principle were general, although
the application might be partial, I cheerfully and zealously
gave it my support. When an objection has been made to
an appropriation for clearing the snags out of the Ohio River,
I have answered it with the question, " Would you not vote
for an appropriation to clear the Atlantic Ocean of snags,
were the navigation of your coast thus obstructed? The,
people of the West contribute their portion of the revenue
to fortify your sea coast, and erect piers, and harbors, and
lighthouses, from which they derive a remote benefit ; and
why not contribute yours to improve the navigation of a
river whose commerce enriches the whole country 1 "

In conclusion, my fellow-citizens, I return you my thanks

for the patience and attention with which you have listened

to me, and pray the beneficent Giver of all good, that he

may keep you under the shadow of his wing, and continue

jt to bless you with peace and prosperity.

P

262 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

THE CURRENCY.

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 28iA of September, 1837, on the
Currency, and on the new Plan for collecting and keeping the Public Moneys.

i

Mr. President, — I am opposed to the doctrines of the
message, to the bill, and to the amendment of the member
from South Carolina.

The government of the United States completed the forty-
eighth year of its existence, under the present Constitution,
on the third day of 3Iarch last. During this whole period,
it has felt itself bound to take proper care of the currency
of the country ; and no administration has admitted this ob-
ligation more clearly or more frequently than the last. For
the fulfilment of this acknowledged duty, as well as to ac-
complish other useful purposes, a national bank has been
maintained for forty out of these forty-eight years. Two
institutions of this kind have been created by law ; one
commencing in 1791, and being limited to twenty years, ex-
piring in 1811 ; the other commencing in 1816, with a like
term of duration, and ending, therefore, in 1836. Both
these institutions, each in its time, accomplished their pur-
pose, so far as currency was concerned, to the general satis-
faction of the country.

Two distinct classes of duties had been performed, in
times past, by the Bank of the United States ; one more im-
mediately to the government, the other to the community.
The first was the safe keeping and the transfer, when re-
quired, of the public moneys ; the other, the supplying of a
sound and convenient paper currency, of equal credit all
over the country, and every where equivalent to specie, and
the giving of most important facilities to the operations
of exchange. These objects were highly important, and
their perfect accomplishment by the " experiment " had been
promised, from the first. The State banks, it was declared,
could perform all these duties, and should perform them.
But the " experiment " came to a dishonored end in the
early part of last May. The deposit banks, with the others,
stopped payment. They could not render back the deposits ;
and so far from being able to furnish a general currency, or

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 263

to assist exchanges, (purposes, indeed, which they never had
fulfilled with any success,) their paper became immediately
depreciated, even in its local circulation. What course,
then, was the administration now to adopt 1 Why, Sir, it
is plain that it had but one alternative. It must either return
to the former practice of the government, take the currency
into its own hands, and maintain it, as well as provide for
the safe keeping of the public money by some institution of
its own ; or else, adopting some new mode of merely keep-
ing the public money, it must abandon all further care over
currency and exchange. One of these courses became in-
evitable. The administration had no other choice. The
State banks could be no longer tried, with the opinion which
the administration now entertained of them ; and how else
could any thing be done to maintain the currency 1 In no
way, but by the establishment of a national institution.

There was no escape from this dilemma. One course
was, to go back to that which the party had so much con-
demned ; the other, to give up the whole duty, and leave the
currency to its fate. Between these two, the administration
found itself absolutely obliged to decide ; and it has decided,
and decided boldly. It has decided to surrender the duty,
and abandon the Constitution. That decision is before us,
in the message, and in the measures now under considera-
tion. The choice has been made ; and that choice, in my
opinion, raises a question of the utmost importance to the
people of this country, both for the present and all future
time. That question is. Whether Congress has, or
ought to have, any duty to perform in relation to
the currency of the^ country, beyond the mere
regulation of the gold and silver coin.

Mr. President, the honorable member from South Caro-
lina remarked, the other day, with great frankness and good
humor, that, in the political classifications of the times, he
desired to be considered as nothing but an honest nullifier.
That, he said, was his character. I believe. Sir, the country
will readily concede that character to the honorable gentle-
man. For one, certainly, I am willing to say that I beheve
him a very honest and a very sincere nullifier, using the term

264 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

in the same sense in which he used it himself, and in which
he meant to appjy it to himself. And I am verj much afraid,
Sir, that (whatever he may think of it himself) it has been
under the influence of those sentiments which belong to his
character as a nullifier, that he has so readily and so zeal-
ously embraced the doctrines of the President's message.
In my opinion, the message, the bill before us, and the hon-
orable member's amendment form, together, a system, a code
of practical politics, the direct tendency of which is to nullify
and expunge, or perhaps, more correctly speaking, by a
united and mixed process of nullification and expunging, to
abolish, a highly important and useful power of the govern-
ment. It strikes down the principle upon which the govern-
ment has been administered in regard to the subject of the
currency, through its whole history ; and it seeks to obliter-
ate, or to draw black lines around, that part of the Consti-
tution on which this principle of administration has rested.
The system proposed, in my opinion, is not only anti-com-
mercial, but anti-constitutional also, and anti-union, in a high
degree.

You will say. Sir, that this is a strong way of stating an
opinion. It is so. I mean to state the opinion in the
strongest manner. I do not wish, indeed, at every turn, to
say, of measures which I oppose, that they either violate or
surrender the Constitution. But when in all soberness and
candor I do so think, in all soberness and candor I must so
speak ; and whether the opinion which I have now expressed
be true, let the sequel decide.

Now, Sir, my present purpose is chiefly to maintain two
propositions ; —

I. That it is the constitutional duty of this government
to see that a proper currency, suitable to the circimistances
of the times, and to the wants of trade and business, as well
as to the payment of debts due to government, be maintained
and preserved ; a currency of general credit, and capable
of aiding the operations of exchange, so far as those opera-
tions may be conducted by means of the circulating medium ;
and that there are duties, therefore, devolving on Congress,
in relation to currency, beyond the mere regulation of the
gold and silver coins.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 265

II. That the message, the bill, and the proposed amend
ment, all, in effect, deny any such duty, disclaim all such
power, and confine tlie constitutional obligation of 'govern-
ment to the mere regulation of the coin, and the care of its
own revenues.

Before entering into the discussion of the grounds of this
proposition, however, allow me, Sir, a few words by way of
preHminary explanation. In the first place, I wish it to be
observed, that I am now contending only for the general
principle, and not insisting either on the constitutionality or
expediency of any particular means or any particular agent.
I am not saying by what instrument or agent Congress
ought to perform this duty ; I only say it is a duty, which,
in some mode and by some means. Congress is bound to
perform. In the next place, let it be remembered that I
carry the absolute duty of government in regard to exchange
no further than the operations of exchange may be performed
by currency. No doubt. Sir, a proper institution, estab-
lished by government, might, as heretofore, give other facili-
ties to exchange, of great importance and to a very great
extent. But 1 intend, on this occasion, to keep clearly
within the Constitution, and to assign no duty to Congress
not plainly enjoined by the provisions of that instrument, as
fairly interpreted, and as heretofore understood.

The President says, it is not the province of government
to aid individuals in the transfer of their funds otherwise
than by the use of the post office ; and that it might as justly
be called on to provide for the transportation of their mer-
chandise. Now, I beg leave to say, Sir, with all respect
and deference, that funds are transferred from individual to
individual usually for the direct purpose of the payment and
receipt of debts ; that payment and receipt are duties of
currency ; that, in my opinion, currency is a thing which
government is bound to provide for and superintend ; that
the case, therefore, has not the slightest resemblance to the
transportation of merchandise, because the transportation of
merchandise is carried on by ships and boats, by carts and
wagons, and not by the use of currency, or any thing else
over which government has usually exclusive control. These

266 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

things individuals can provide for themselves. But the trans-
fer of funds is done by credit, and must be so done ; and
some proper medium for this transfer it is the duty of gov-
ernment to provide, because it belongs to currency, to
money, and is therefore beyond the power of individuals.
The nature of exchange. Sir, is well understood by per-
sons engaged in commerce ; but as its operations are a little
out of the sight of other classes of the community, although
they have all a deep and permanent interest in the subject, I
may be pardoned for a word or two of general explanation.
I speak of domestic exchanges only. We mean, then, by
exchange, this same transfer of funds. We mean the
making of payment in a distant place, or the receiving of
payment from a distant place, by some mode of paper
credits. If done by draft, order, or bill of exchange, that is
'one form ; if done by the transmissiori of bank notes,
through the post office, or otherwise, that is another form.
In each, credit is used ; in the first, the credit of the parties
whose names are on the bill or draft ; in the last, the credit
of the bank. Every man. Sir, who looks over this vast
country, and contemplates the commercial connection of its
various parts, must see the great importance that this ex-
change should be cheap and easy. To the producer and to
the consumer, to the manufacturer and the planter, to the
merchant, to all, in all classes, this is a matter of moment.
We may see an instance in the common articles of manu-
facture produced in the North and sent to the South and
West for sale and consumption. Hats, shoes, furniture, car-
riages, domestic hardware, and various other articles, the
produce of those manufactures, and of employments carried
on without the aid of large capital, constitute a large part of
this trade, as well as the fabrics of cotton and wool. Now,
a state of exchange which shall enable the producers to re-
ceive payment regularly, and without loss, is indispensable to
any useful prosecution of this intercourse. Derangement
of currency and exchange is ruinous. The notes of local
banks will not answer the purpose of remittance ; and if
bills of exchange cannot be had, or can be had only at a
high rate, how is payment to be received, or to be received

\

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 267

without great loss ? This evil was severely felt, even before
the suspension of specie payment by the banks; and it will
always be felt, more or less, till there is a currency of gen-
eral credit and circulation through the country.

The power over the coinage is not the strongest, nor the
broadest, ground on which to place the duty of Congress.
There is another power granted to Congress, which seems
to me to apply to this case directly and irresistibly, and that
is the commercial power. The Constitution declares that
Congress shall have power to regulate commerce, not only
with foreign nations, hut between the States. This is a full
and complete grant, and must include authority over every
thing which is part of commerce, or essential to commerce.
And is not money essential to commerce 1 No man in his
senses can deny that ; and it is equally clear, that whatever
paper is put forth, with intent to circulate as currency, or to
be used as money, immediately affects commerce. Bank
notes, in a strict and technical sense, are not, indeed, money ;
but in a general sense, and often in a legal sense, they are
money. They are substantially money, because they per-
form the functions of money. They are not like bills of
exchange or common promissory notes, mere proofs or evi-
dences of debt, but are treated as money, in the general
transactions of society. If receipts be given for them, they
are given as for money. They pass under a legacy, or other
form of gift, as money. And this character of bank notes
was as well known and understood at the time of the adop-
tion of the Constitution as it is now. The law, both of
England and America, regarded them as money, in the sense
above expressed. If Congress, then, has power to regulate
commerce, it must have a control over that money, what-
ever it may be, by which commerce is actually carried on.
Whether that money be coin or paper, or however it has ac-
quired the character of money or currency, if, in fact, it has
become an actual agent or instrument in the performance
of commercial transactions, it necessarily thereby becomes
subject to the regulation and control of Congress. The
regulation of money is not so much an inference from the
commercial power conferred on Congress, as it is a part of

263 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

it. Money is one of the things, without which, in modern
times, we can form no practical idea of commerce. It is
embraced, therefore, necessarily, in the terms of the Consti-
tution.

But, Sir, as will be seen by the proposition which I have
stated, I go further ; I insist that the duty of Congress is
commensurate with its power; that it has authority not only
to regulate and control that which others may put forth as
money and currency, but that it has the power, and is bound
to perform the duty, of seeing that there is established and
maintained, at all times, a currency of general credit, equiv-
alent in value to specie, adapted to the wants of commerce
and the business of the people, and suited to the existing
circumstances of the country. Such a currency is an instru-
ment of the first necessity to commerce, according to the
commercial system of the present age ; and without it com-
merce cannot be conducted to full advantage. It is in the
power of Congress to furnish it, and it is in the power of
nobody else. The States cannot supply it. That resource
has often been tried, and has always failed. I am no enemy
to the State banks ; they may be very useful in their spheres ;
but you can no more cause them to perform the duties of a
national institution, than you can turn a satellite into a pri-
mary orb. They cannot maintain a currency of equal credit
all over the country. It might be tried, Sir, in your State
of Kentucky, or our State of Massachusetts. We may erect
banks on all the securities which the wit of man can devise ;
we may have capital, we may have funds, we may have
bonds and mortgages, we may add the faith of the State, we
may pile Pelion upon Ossa ; they will be State institutions
after all, and will not be able to support a national circula-
tion. This is inherent in the nature of things, and in the
sentiments of men. It is in vain to argue that it ought not
to be so, or to contend that one bank may be as safe as
another. Experience proves that it is so, and we may be
assured it will remain so.

Sir, mine is not the ruthless hand that shall strike at the
State banks, nor mine the tongue that shall causelessly up-
braid them with treachery or perfidy. I admit their lawful

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 269

existence ; I admit their utility in the circle to which they
properly belong. I only say, they cannot perform a national
part in the operations of commerce. A general and uni-
versally accredited currency, therefore, is an instrument of
commerce, which is necessary to the enjoyment of its just
advantages, or, in other words, which is essential to its bene-
ficial regulation. Congress has power to establish it, and no
other power can establish it ; and therefore Congress is bound
to exercise its own power. It is an absurdity, on the very
face of the proposition, to allege that Congress shall regu-
late commerce, but shall, nevertheless, abandon to others the
duty of maintaining and regulating its essential means and
instruments. We have in actual use a mixed currency ; the
coin circulating under the authority of Congress, the paper
under the authority of the States. But this paper, though
it fills so great a portion of all the channels of circulation,
is not of general and universal credit ; it is made up of
various local currencies, none of which has the same credit,
or the same value, in all parts of the country ; and there-
fore these local currencies answer but very loosely and im-
perfectly the purposes of general currency and of remit-
tance. Now, is it to be contended that there is no remedy
for this 1 Are we to agree, tliat the Constitution, with all
its care, circumspection, and wisdom, has, nevertheless, left
this great interest unprovided for ? *Is our commercial sys-
tem so lame and impotent ? Are our constitutional provis-
ions and our political institutions so radically defective ? I
think not. Sir. They do not deserve this reproach ; and I
think it may now be easily shown, that, under all adminis-
trations, from General Washington's time down to the 3d
of March last, the government has felt and acknowledged
its obligation, in regard to the currency, to the full extent in
which I have stated it, and has constantly endeavored to
fulfil that obligation.

Is not this clear proof, that one object in establishing the
bank, in the opinion of the Secretary, was the creation of a
currency which should have general credit throughout the
country, and, by means of such credit, should become a
convenient and expeditious medium of exchange 1 Cur'

270 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

rency, Sir, currency and exchange, were then, beyond all
doubt, important objects, in the opinion of the proposer of
the measure, to be accomplished by the institution.

And now, Sir, let me ask, what was it that gave this suc-
cess to the new institution 1 Its capital was small, and gov-
ernment had no participation in its direction ; it was com-
mitted entirely to individual management and control.

Its notes, it is true, were made receivable in payments to
government ; that was one advantage. It had a solid capitnl,
and its paper was at all times convertible into gold and silver, at
tlie will and pleasure of the holder ; that was another and u
most important ground of its prosperity. But, Sir, there was
something more than all this. There was something which
touched men's sentiments, as well as their understandings.
There was a cause which carried the credit of the new-born
bank, as on the wings of the wind, to every quarter and every
extremity of the country. There was a charm, which created
trust, and faith, and reliance, not only in the great marts of
commerce, but in every corner into which money, in any
form, could penetrate. That cause was its nationality of
character. It had the broad seal of the Union to its char-
ter. It was the institution of the nation, established by
that new government which the people already loved ; and
it was known to be designed to revive and foster that com-
merce which had so long been prostrate and lifeless.

The history of the late Bank of the United States mani-
fests, as clearly as that of the first, that the government, in
creating it, was acting, avowedly, in execution of its duty in
regard to the currency. Fiscal aid, except so far as the fur-
nishing of a currency was concerned, was hardly thought of.
Its bills were made receivable for revenue, indeed ; but that
provision, as far as it went, was obviously a provision for cur-
rency. Currency for the revenue, however, was not the lead-
ing object. The leading object was currency for the country.

I maintain. Sir, that the people of this country are en-
titled, at the hand of this government, to a sound, s^e, and
uniform currency. If they agree with me, they will them-
selves say so. They will say, " It is our right ; we have
enjoyed it forty years ; it is practicable, it is necessary to

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 271

our prosperity, it is the duty of government to furnish
it ; we ought to have it, we can have it, and we will
have it."

The language of the administration, on the other hand,
is. " Good masters, you are mistaken. You have no such
right. You are entitled to no such thing from us. The
Constitution has been misunderstood. We have suddenly
found out its true meaning. A new light has flashed upon
us. It is no business of ours to furnish a national currency.
You cannot have it, and you will not get it."

Be it remembered. Sir, that my proposition simply is,
that it is a part of the power and duty of Congress to main-
tain a general currency, suitable to the state of things exist-
ing among us, for the use of commerce and the people.
Now, Sir, what says Mr. Madison 1 I read from his mes-
sage of December, 1816.

" Upon this general view of the subject, it is obvious that
there is only wanting to the fiscal prosperity of the govern-
ment the restoration of a uniform medium of exchange.
The resources and the faith of the nation, displayed in the
system which Congress has established, insure respect and
confidence both at home and abroad. The local accumula-
tions of the revenue have already enabled the treasury to
meet the public engagements in the local currency of most
of the States ; and it is expected that the same cause will
produce the same effect throughout the Union. But, for the
interests of the community at large, as well as for the pur-
poses of the treasury, it is essential that the nation should
possess a currency of equal value, credit, and use, wherever
it may circulate. The Constitution has intrusted Congress,
exclusively, with the power of creating and regulating a cur-
rency of that description ; and the measures which were
taken during the last session, in execution of the power,
give every promise of success. The Bank of the United
States has been organized under auspices the most favora-
ble, and cannot fail to be an important auxiliary to those
measures."

Mr. President, this power over the currency for which I
am contending is in the Constitution ; the authority of Con-

272 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

/

gress over commerce would be radically deficient without it ;
the power has been admitted, acknowledged, and exercised.
To deny that this power is in the Constitution, is to rewrite
the Constitution, to reconstruct it, to take it away, and give
us a substitute. To deny that the power has been acknowl-
edged, and exercised, is to contradict history, and to reverse
facts.

REPLY TO ME. CALHOUN.

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 22d of March, 1838, in Answer

to Mr. Calhoun.

Mr. President, — I came rather late to the Senate this
morning, and, happening to meet a friend on the Avenue, I
was admonished to hasten my steps, as " the war was to be
carried into Africa," and I was expected to be annihilated. I
lost no time in following the advice, Sir, since it would be
awkward for one to be annihilated without knowing any
thino; about it.

Well, Sir, the war has been carried into Africa. The
honorable member has made an expedition into regions as
remote from the subject of this debate as the orb of .Tupiter
from that of our earth. He has spoken of the tariff, of
slavery, and of the late war. Of all this I do not complain.
On the contrary, if it be his pleasure to allude to all or any
of these topics, for any purpose whatever, I am ready at all
times to hear him.

Sir, this carrying the war into Africa, which has become
SO common a phrase among us, is, indeed, imitating a great
example ; but it is an example which is not always followed
with success. In the first place, every man, though he be a
man of talent and genius, is not a Scipio ; and in the next
place, as I recollect this part of Roman and Carthaginian
history, — the gentleman may be more accurate, but as I rec-
ollect it, — when Scipio resolved upon carrying the war into
Africa, Hannibal was not at home. Now, Sir, I am very
little like Hannibal, but I am at home ; and when Scipio
Africanus South-Caroliniensis brings the war into my territo-
ries, I shall not leave their defence to Asdrubal, nor Syphax,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 273

nor any body else. I meet him on the shore, at his landing,
and propose but one contest.

" Concurritur ; horae
Momento cita mors venit, aut victoria Iteta,"

Mr. President, I had made up my mind that, if the hon-
orable gentleman should confine himself to a reply in the
ordinary way, I would not say another syllable. But he has
not done so. He has gone off into topics quite remote
from all connection with revenue, commerce, finance, or
sub-treasuries, and invites to a discussion which, however
uninteresting to the public at the present moment, is too per-
sonal to be declined by me.

He says. Sir, that I undertook to compare my political
character and conduct with his. Far from it. I attempted
no such thing. I compared the gentleman's political opin-
ions at different times with one another, and expressed de-
cided opposition to those which he now holds. And I did,
certainly, advert to the general tone and drift of the gentle-
man's sentiments and expressions for some years past, in
their bearing on the Union, with such remarks as I thought
they deserved ; but I instituted no comparison between him
and myself. He may institute one if he pleases, and when
he pleases. Seeking nothing of this kind, I avoid nothing.
Let it be remembered, that the gentleman began the debate,
by attempting to exhibit a contrast between the present opin-
ions and conduct of my friends and myself, and our recent
opinions and conduct. Here is the first charge of inconsist-
ency ; let the public judge whether he has made it good.
He says. Sir, that on several questions I have taken different
sides, at different times ; let him show it. If he shows any
change of opinion, I shall be called on to give a reason, and
to account for it. I leave it to the country to say whether,
as yet, he has shown any such thing.

But, Sir, before attempting that, he has something else to
say. He had prepared, it seems, to draw comparisons him-
self. He had intended to say something, if time had al-
lowed, upon our respective opinions and conduct in regard
to the war. If time had allowed ! Sir, time does allow,
18

274 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

time must allow. A general remark of that kind ought not
to be, cannot be, left to produce its effect, when that effect
is obviously intended to be unfavorable. Why did the gen-
tleman allude to my votes or my opinions respecting the war
at all, unless he had something to say ? Does he wish to
leave an undefined impression that something was done, or
something said, by me, not now capable of defence or justi-
fication ? something not reconcilable with true patriotism 1
He means that, or nothing. And now. Sir, let him bring the
matter forth ; let him take the responsibility of the accusa-
tion ; let him state his facts. I am here to answer ; I am
here, this day, to answer. Now is the time, and now the
hour. I think we read, Sir, that one of the good spirits
would not bring against the Arch-enemy of mankind a rail-
ing accusation ; and what is railing but general reproach, an
imputation without fact, time, or circumstance ? Sir, I call
for particulars. The gentleman knows my whole conduct
well ; indeed, the journals show it all, from the moment I
came into Congress till the peace. If I have done, then,
Sir, any thing unpatriotic, any thing which, as far as love to
country goes, will not bear comparison with his or any man's
conduct, let it now be stated. Give me the fact, the time,
the manner. He speaks of the war ; that which we call
the late war, though it is now twenty-five years since it ter-
minated. He would leave an impression that I opposed it.
How 1 I was not in Congress when war was declared, nor
in public life any where. I was pursuing my profession,
keeping company with judges and jurors, and plaintiffs and
defendants. If I had been in Congress, and had enjoyed
the benefit of hearing the honorable gentleman's speeches,
for aught I can say, I might have concurred with him. But
I was not in public life. I never had been, for a single
hour ; and was in no situation, therefore, to oppose or to
support the declaration of war. I am speaking to the fact,
Sir ; and if the gentleman has any fact, let us know it.

Well, Sir, I came into Congress during the war. I found
it waged, and raging. And what did I do here to oppose it ?
Look to the journals. Let the honorable gentleman tax his
memory. Bring up any thing, if there be any thing to bring

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 275

up, not shelving error of opinion, but showing want of
loyalty or fidelity to the country. I did not agree to all that
was proposed, nor did the honorable member. I did not
approve of every measure, nor did he. The war had beeu
preceded by the restrictive system and the embargo. As a
private individual, 1 certainly did not think well of these
measures. It appeared to me that the embargo annoyed
ourselves as much as our enemies, while it destroyed the
business, and craoiped the spirits, of the people. In this
opinion I may have been riglit or wrong, but the gentleman
was himself of the same opinion. He told us the other day,
as a proof of his independence of party on great questions,
that he differed with his friends on the subject of the em-
bargo. He was decidedly and unalterably opposed to it.
It furnishes in his judgment, therefore, no imputation either
on my patriotism, or on the soundness of my political opinions,
that I was opposed to it also. I mean opposed in opinion ;
for I was not in Congress, and had nothing to do witli the act
creating the embargo. And as to opposition to measures for
carrying on the war, after I came into Congress, I again say,
let the gentleman specify ; let him lay his finger on any
thing calling for an answer, and he shall have an answer.

Mr. President, you were yourself in the House during a
considerable part of this time. The honorable gentleman
may make a witness of you. He may make a wit-
ness of any body else. He may be his own witness.
Give us but some fact, some charge, something capable
in itself either of being proved or disproved. Prove any
thing, state any thing, not consistent with honorable and
patriotic conduct, and I am ready to answer it. Sir, I am
glad this subject has been alluded to in a manner which justi-
fies me in taking public notice of it ; because I am well
aware that, for ten years past, infinite pains has been taken
to find something, in the range of these topics, which might
create prejudice against me in the country. The journals
have all been pored over, and the reports ransacked, and
scraps of paragraphs and half sentences have been collected,
fraudulently put together, and then made to flare out as if
there had been some discovery. But all this failed. The

276 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

next resort was to supposed correspondence. My letters
were sought for, to learn if, in the confidence of private
friendship, I had ever said any thing which an enemy could
make use of. With this view, the vicinity of my former
residence has been searched, as with a lighted candle. New
Hampshire has been explored, from the mouth of the Mer-
rimack to the White Hills. In one instance a gentleman
had left the State, gone five hundred miles off, and died.
His papers were examined ; a letter was found, and I have
understood it was brought to Washington ; a conclave was
held to consider it, and the result was, that, If there was
nothing else against Mr. Webster, the matter had better be
let alone. Sir, I hope to make every body of that opinion
who brings against me a charge of want of patriotism.
Errors of opinion can be found, doubtless, on many sub-
jects ; but as conduct flovt^s from the feelings which animate
the heart, I know that no act of my life has had its origin
in the want of ardent love of country.

Sir, when I came to Congress, I found the honorable gen-
tleman a leading member of the House of Representatives.
Well, Sir, in what did we differ ? One of the first meas-
ures of magnitude, after I came here, was Mr. Dallas's *
proposition for a bank. It was a war measure. It was
urged as being absolutely necessary to enable government to
carry on the war. Government wanted revenue ; such a
bank, it was hoped, would furnish it ; and on that account it
was most warmly pressed and urged on Congress. You re-
member all this, Mr. President. You remember how much
some persons supposed the success of the war and the sal-
vation of the country depended on carrying that measure.
Yet the honorable member from South Carolina opposed
this bill. He now takes to himself a good deal of merit,
none too much, but still a good deal of merit, for having
defeated it. Well, Sir, I agreed with him. It was a mere
paper bank ; a machine for fabricating irredeemable paper.
It was a new form for paper money ; and instead of bene-
fiting the country, I thought it would plunge it deeper and

* The Secretary of the Treasury.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 277

deeper in difficulty. I made a speech on the subject ; it
has often, been quoted. There it is ; let whoever pleases
read and examine it. I am not proud of it for any abihty
it exhibits; on the other hand, I am not ashamed of it for
the spirit which it manifests. But, Sir, I say ao^ain that the
gentleman himself took the lead against this measure, this
darling measure of the administration. I followed him ; if
I was seduced into error, or into unjustifiable opposition,
there sits my seducer.

What, Sir, were other leading sentiments or leading
measures of that day ? On what other subjects did men
differ ? The gentleman has adverted to one, and that a
most important one ; I mean the navy. He says, and says
truly, that at the commencement of the war the navy was
unpopular. It was unpopular with his friends, who then
controlled the politics of the country. But he says he dif-
fered with his friends ; in this respect he resisted party influ-
ence and party connection, and was the friend and advocate
of the navy. Sir, I commend him for it. He showed his
wisdom. That gallant little navy soon fought itself into
favor, and showed that no man who had placed reliance on
it had been disappointed.

Well, Sir, in all this I was exactly of the opinion of the
honorable gentleman.

Sir, I do not know when my opinion of the importance
of a naval force to the United States had its origin. I can
give no date to my present sentiments on this subject, be-
cause I never entertained different sentiments. I remem-
ber, Sir, that immediately after coming into my profession,
at a period when the navy was most unpopular, when it was
called by all sorts of hard names and designated by many
coarse epithets, on one of those occasions on which young
men address their neighbors, I ventured to put forth a boy's
hand in defence of the navy. I insisted on its importance,
its adaptation to our circumstances and to our national char-
acter, and its indispensable necessity, if we intended to
maintain and extend our commerce. These opinions and
sentiments I brought into Congress; and the first time in
which I presumed to speak on the topics of the day, 1

278 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

attempted to iir^e on the House a greater attention to the
naval service. There were divers modes of prosecuting the
war. On these modes, or on the degree of attention and
expense vs^hich should be bestowed on each, different men
held different opinions. I confess I looked with most hope
to the results of naval warfare, and therefore I invoked gov-
ernment to invigorate and strengthen that arm of the national
defence. I invoked it to seek its enemy upon the seas, to
go where every auspicious indication pointed, and where the
whole heart and soul of the country would go with it.

And now. Sir, in regard to the tariff. That is a long
chapter, but I am quite ready to go over it with the honor-
able member.

He charges me with inconsistency. That may depend on
deciding what inconsistency is, in respect to such subjects,
and how it is to be proved. I will state the facts, for I have
them in my mind somewhat more fully than the honorable
member has himself presented them. Let us begin at the
beginning. In 1816 I voted against the tariff law which
then passed. In 1824 I again voted against the tariff law
which was then proposed, and which passed. A majority
of New England votes, in 1824, were against the tariff sys-
tem. The bill received but one vote from Massachusetts ;
but it passed. The policy was established. New England
acquiesced in it ; conformed her business and pursuits to it ;
embarked her capital, and employed her labor, in manufac-
tures ; and I certainly admit that, from that time, I have
felt bound to support interests thus called hito being, and
into importance, by the settled policy of the government. I
have stated this often here, and often elsewhere. The
ground is defensible, and I maintain it.

Well, Sir, and now what does the gentleman, make out
against me in relation to the tariff? What laurels does he
gather in tliis part of Africa ? I opposed the policy of the
tariff, until it had become the settled and established policy
of the country. I have never questioned the constitutional
power of Congress to grant protection, except so far as the
remark made in Faneuil Hall goes, which remark respects
only the length to which protection might properly be car-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 279

ried, s^ far as the power is derived from the authority to
lay duties on imports. But the policy being established,
and a great part of the country having placed vast interests
at stake in it, I have not disturbed it ; on the contrary, I
have insisted that it ought not to be disturbed. If there be
inconsistency in all this, the gentleman is at liberty to blazon
it forth ; let him see what he can make of it.

But, Sir, I have insisted that government is bound to pro-
tect and regulate the means of commerce, to see that there
is a sound currency for the use of the people. The honor-
able gentleman asks. What then is the limit ? Must Con-
gress also furnish all means of commerce ? Must it furnish
weights and scales and steelyards ? Most undoubtedly. Sir,
it must regulate weights and measures, and it does so. But
the answer to the general question is very obvious. Gov-
ernment must furnish all that which none but government
can furnish. Government must do that for individuals which
individuals cannot do for themselves. That is the very end
of government. Why else have we a government ? Can
individuals make a currency 1 Can individuals regulate
money ? The distinction is as broad and plain as the Penn-
sylvania Avenue. No man can mistake it, or well blunder
out of it. The gentleman asks if government must furnish
for the people ships, and boats, and wagons. Certainly not.
The gentleman here only recites the President's message of
September. These things, and all such things, the people
can furnish for themselves ; but they cannot make a cur-
rency ; they cannot, individually, decide what shall be the
money of the country. That, every body knows, is one of
the prerogatives, and one of the duties, of government ; and
a duty which I think we are most unwisely and improperly
neglecting. We may as well leave the people to make war
and to make peace, each man for himself, as to leave to
individuals the regulation of commerce and currency.

Mr. President, there are other remarks of the gentleman
of which I might take notice. But should I do so, I could
only repeat what I have already said, either now or hereto-
fore. I shall, therefore, not now allude to them. My
principal purpose in what I have said has been to defend

280 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

niyself; that was my first object; and next, as the 4ionora-
ble member has attempted to take to himself the character
of a strict constructionist, and a State-rights man, and on
that basis to show a difference, not favorable to me, between
his constitutional opinions and my own, heretofore, it has
been my intention to show that the power to create a bank,
the power to regulate the currency by other and direct
means, the power to enact a protective tariff, and the power
of internal improvement, in its broadest sense, are all powers
which the honorable gentleman himself has supported, has
acted on, and in the exercise of which, indeed, he has taken
a distinguished lead in the counsels of Congress.

If this has been done, my purpose is answered. I do not
wish to prolong the discussion, nor to spin it out into a col-
loquy. If the honorable member has any thing new to
bring forward ; if he has any charge to make, any proof,
or any specification ; if he has any thing to advance against
my opinions or my conduct, my honor or patriotism, I am
still at home. I am here. If not, then, so far as I am con-
cerned, this discussion will here terminate.

THE COMPLETION OF THE BUNKER HILL MONUMENT.

Address delivered on Bunker HiU, on the 17 th of June, 1843.

A DUTY has been performed. A work of gratitude and
patriotism is completed. This structure, having its founda-
tions in soil which drank deep of early Revolutionary blood,
has at length reached its destined height, and now lifts its
summit to the skies.

We have assembled to celebrate the accomplishment of
this undertaking, and to indulge afresh in the recollection
of the great event which it is designed to commemorate.
Eighteen years, more than half the ordinary duration of a
generation of mankind, have elapsed sin^e the corner stone
of this monument was laid. The hopes of its projectors
rested on voluntary contributions, private munificence, and
the general favor of the public. These hopes have not been
disappointed. Donations have been made by individuals, in.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 281

some cases of large amount, and smaller sums have been
contributed by thousands. All who regard the object itself
as important, and its accomplishment, therefore, as a good
attained, will entertain sincere respect and gratitude for the
unwearied efforts of the successive presidents, boards of di-
rectors, and committees of the Association which has had
the general control of the work. The architect, equally
entitled to our thanks and commendation, will find other
reward, also, for his labor and skill, in the beauty and ele-
gance of the obelisk itself, and the distinction which, as a
work of art, it confers upon him.

The Bunker Hill Monument is finished. Here it stands.
Fortunate in the high natural eminence on which it is 'placed,
higher, infinitely higher in its objects and purpose, it rises
over the land and over the sea ; and, visible at their homes
to three hundred thousand of the people of Massachusetts,
it stands, a memorial of the last, and a monitor to the pres-
ent and to all succeeding generations. I have spoken of
the loftiness of its purpose. If it had been without any
other design than the creation of a work of art, the granite
of which it is composed would have slept in its native bed.
It has a purpose, and that purpose gives it its character.
That purpose enrobes it with dignity and moral grandeur.
That well-known purpose it is which causes us to look up
to it with a feeling of awe. It is itself the orator of this
occasion. It is not from my lips, it could not be from any
human lips, that that strain of eloquence is this day to
flow most competent to move and excite the vast multitudes
around me. The powerful speaker stands motionless be-
fore us. It is a plain shaft. It bears no inscriptions, front-
ing to the rising sun, from which the future antiquary shall
wipe the dust. Nor does the rising sun cause tones of
music to issue from its summit. But at the rising of the
sun, and at the setting of the sun ; in the blaze of noon-
day, and beneath the milder effulgence of lunar light ; it
looks, it speaks, it acts, to the full comprehension of every
American mind, and the awakening of glowing enthusiasm
in every American heart. Its silent, I)ut awful utterance;
its deep piithos, as it brings to our contemplation the 17th

282 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of June, 1775, and the consequences which have resulted to
us, to our country, and to the world, from the events of that
day, and which we know must continue to rain influence
on the destinies of mankind to the end of time ; the eleva-
tion with which it raises us high above the ordinary feelings
of life, surpass all that the study of the closet, or even the
inspiration of genius, can produce. To-day it speaks to us.
Its future auditories will be the successive generations of
men, as they rise up before it and gather around it. Its
speech will be of patriotism and coilrage ; of civil and re-
ligious liberty ; of free government ; of the moral improve-
ment and elevation of mankind ; and of the immortal mem-
ory of those who, with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their
lives for their country.

In the older world, numerous fabrics still exist, reared
by human hands, but whose object has been lost in the
darkness of ages. They are now monuments of nothing
but the labor and skill which constructed them.

The mighty pyramid itself, half buried in the sands of
Africa, has nothing to bring down and report to us, but the
power of kings and the servitude of the people. If it had
any purpose beyond that of a mausoleum, such purpose has
perished from history and from tradition. If asked for its
moral object, its admonition, its sentiment, its instruction to
mankind, or any high end in its erection, it is silent ; silent
as the millions which lie in the dust at its base, and in the
catacombs which surround it. Without a just moral object,
therefore, made known to man, though raised against the
skies, it excites only conviction of power, mixed with strange
wonder. But if the civilization of the present race of men,
founded, as it is, in solid science, the true knowledge of
nature, and vast discoveries in art, and which is elevated
and purified by moral sentiment and by the truths of Chris-
tianity, be not destined to destruction before the final termi-
nation of human existence on earth, the object and purpose
of this edifice will be known till that hour shall come.
And even if civilization should be subverted, and the truths of
the Christian religion obscured by a new deluge of barbarism,
the memory of Bunker Hill and the American Revolution

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 283

will still be elements and parts of the knowledge which
shall be possessed by the last man to whom the light of
civilization and Christianity shall be extended.

This celebration is honored by the presence of the chief
executive magistrate of the Union. An occasion so national
in its object and character, and so much connected with
that Revolution from which the government sprang at the
head of which he is placed, may well receive from him this
mark of attention and respect. Well acquainted with York-
town, the scene of the last great military struggle of the
Revolution, his eye now surveys the field of Bunker Hill,
the theatre of the first of those important conflicts. He
sees where Warren fell, where Putnam, and Prescott, and
Stark, and Knowlton, and Brooks fought. He beholds the
spot where a thousand trained soldiers of England were
smitten to the earth, in the first efibrt of revolutionary war,
by the arm of a bold and determined yeomanry, contending
for liberty and their country. And while all assembled
here entertain towards him sincere personal good wishes
and the high respect due to his elevated office and station,
it is not to be doubted that he enters, with true American
feeling, into the patriotic enthusiasm kindled by the occasion
which animates the multitudes that surround him.

His Excellency, the Governor of the Commonwealtli, the
Governor of Rhode Island, and the other distinguished
public men whom we have the honor to receive as visitors
and guests to-day, will cordially unite in a celebration con-
nected with the great event of the Revolutionary war.

No name in the history of 1775 and 1776 is more dis-
tinguished than that borne by an ex-president of the United
States, whom we expected to see here, but whose ill health
prevents his attendance. Whenever popular rights were to
be asserted, an Adams was present; and when the time
came for the formal Declaration of Independence, it was
the voice of an Adams that shook the halls of Congress.
We wish we could have welcomed to us this day tlie in-
lieritor of Revolutionary blood, and the just and worthy
representative of high Revolutionary names, merit, and
services.

284 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Banners and badges, processions and flags, announce to
us, that amidst this uncounted throng are thousands of
natives of New England now residents in other States.
Welcome, ye kindred names with kindred blood ! From
the broad savannas of the South, from the newer regions
of the West, from amidst the hundreds of thousands of men
of Eastern origin who cultivate the rich valley of the Gene-
see or live along the chain of the Lakes, from the mountains
of Pennsylvania, and from the thronged cities of the coast,
welcome, welcome ! Wherever else you may be strangers,
here you are all at home. You assemble at this shrine of
liberty, near the family altars at which your earliest devo-
tions were paid to Heaven ; near to the temples of worship
first entered by you, and near to the schools and colleges in
which your education was received. You come hither with
a glorious ancestry of liberty. You bring names which are
on the rolls of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. You
come, some of you, once more to be embraced by an aged
Revolutionary father, or to receive another, perhaps a last,
blessing, bestowed in love and tears, by a mother, yet sur-
viving to witness and to enjoy your prosperity and happiness.

But if family associations and the recollections of the past
bring you hither with greater alacrity, and mingle with your
greeting much of local attachment and private affection,
greeting also be given, free and hearty greeting, to every
American citizen who treads this sacred soil with patriotic
feeling, and respires with pleasure in an atmosphere per-
fumed with the recollections of 1775 ! This occasion is
respectable, nay, it is grand, it is sublime, by the nationality
of its sentiment. Among the seventeen millions of happy
people who form the American community, there is not
one who has not an interest in this monument, as there is
not one that has not a deep and abiding interest in that
which it commemorates.

Woe betide the man who brings to this day's worship
feeling less than wholly American ! Woe betide the man
who can stand here with the fires of local resentments burn-
ing, or the purpose of fomenting local jealousies and the
strifes of local interests festering and rankling in his heart.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 285

Union, established in justice, in patriotism, and the most
plain and obvious common interest, — union, founded on the
same love of liberty, cemented by blood shed in the same
common cause, — union has been the source of all our o-lory
and greatness thus far, and is the ground of all our highest
hopes. This column stands on Union. I know not that it
might not keep its position if the American Union, in the
mad conflict of human passions, and in the strife of parties
and factions, should be broken up and destroyed. I know
not that it would totter and fall to the earth, and mingle its
fragments with the fragments of Liberty and the Constitution,
when State should be separated from State, and faction and
dismemberment obliterate for ever all the hopes of the found-
ers of our republic, and the great inheritance of their chil-
dren. It might stand. But who, from beneath the weight
of mortification and shame that would oppress him, could
look up to behold it ? Whose eyeballs would not be seared
by such a spectacle ? For my part, should I live to such a
time, I shall avert my eyes from it for ever.

It is not as a mere military encounter of hostile armies,
that the battle of Bunker Hill presents its principal claim to
attention. Yet, even as a mere battle, there were circum-
stances attending it extraordinary in character, and entitling
it to peculiar distinction. It was fought on this eminence ; in
the neighborhood of yonder city ; in the presence of many
more spectators than there were combatants in the conflict.
Men, women, and children, from every commanding po-
sition, v^^ere gazing at the battle, and looking for its results
with all the eagerness natural to those who knew that the
issue was fraught with the deepest consequences to them-
selves, personally, as well as to their country. Yet, on the
16th of June, 1775, there was nothing around this hill but
verdure and culture. There was, indeed, the note of awful
preparation in Boston. There was the Provincial army at
Cambridge, with its right flank resting on Dorchester, and
its left on Chelsea. But here all was peace. Tranquillity
reigned around. On the 17th every thing was changed.
On this eminence had arisen, in the night, a redoubt, built
by Prescott, and in which he held command. Perceived

286 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

by the enemy at dawn, it was immediately cannonaded from
the floating batteries in the river, and from the opposite
shore. And then ensued the hurried movement in Boston,
and soon the troops of Britain embarked in the attempt to
dislodge the Colonists. In an hour every thing indicated
an immediate and bloody conflict. Love of liberty on one
side, proud defiance of rebelUon on the other ; hopes and
fears, and courage and daring, on both sides, animated the
hearts of the combatants as they hung on the edge of battle.

I suppose it would be difficult, in a military point of view,
to ascribe to the leaders on either side any just motive for
the engagement which followed. On the one hand, it could
not have been very important to the Americans to attempt
to hem the British within the town, by advancing one single
post a quarter of a mile ; while, on the other hand, if the
British found it essential to dislodge the American troops,
they had it in their power at no expense of life. By moving
up their ships and batteries, they could have completely cut
off all communication with the main land over the Neck, and
the forces in the redoubt would have been reduced to a
state of famine in forty-eight hours.

But that was not the day for any such consideration on
either side ! Both parties were anxious to try the strength
of their arms. The pride of England would not permit the
rebels, as she termed them, to defy her to the teeth ; and,
without for a moment calculating the cost, the British gen-
eral determined to destroy the fort immediately. On the
other side, Prescott and his gallant followers longed and
thirsted for a decisive trial of strength and of courage.
They wished a battle, and wished it at once. And this is
the true secret of the movements on this hill.

I will not attempt to describe that battle. The cannon-
ading; the landing of the British ; their advance;, the cool-
ness with which the charge was met ; the repulse ; the
second attack ; the second repulse ; the burning of Charles-
town ; and, finally, the closing assault, and the slow retreat
of the Americans, — the history of all these is familiar.

But the consequences of the battle of Bunker Hill were
greater than those of any ordinary conflict, although between

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 287

armies of far g^reater force, and terminating with more im-
mediate advantage on the one side or the other. It was
the first great battle of the Revolution; and not only the
first blow, but the blow which determined the contest. It
did not, indeed, put an end to the war, but in the then
existing hostile state of feeling, the difficulties could only
be referred to the arbitration of the sword. And one thing
is certain ; that after the New England troops had shown
themselves able to face and repulse the regulars, it was de-
cided that peace never could be established but upon the
basis of the independence of the Colonies. When the sun
of that day went down, the event of Independence was no
longer doubtful. In a few days Washington heard of the
battle, and he inquired if the militia had stood the fire of
the regulars. When told that they had not only stood that
fire, but reserved their own till the enemy was within eight
rods, and then poured it in with tremendous effect, " Then,"
exclaimed he, "the liberties of the country are safe ! "

The consequences of this battle were just of the same im-
portance as the Revolution itself.

If there was nothing of value in the principles of the
American Revolution, then there is nothing valuable in the
battle of Bunker Hill and its consequences. But if the
Revolution was an era in the history of man favorable to
-liuman happiness, if it was an event which marked the
progress of man all over the world from despotism to liber-
ty, then this monument is not raised without cause. Then
the battle of Bunker Hill is not an event undeserving cele-
brations, commemorations, and rejoicings, now and in all
coming times.

What, then, is the true and peculiar principle of the Ameri-
can Revolution, and of the systems of government which it has
confirmed and established ? The truth is, that the American
Revolution was not caused by the instantaneous discovery
of principles of goverrmient before unheard of, or the prac-
tical adoption of political ideas such as Imd never before
entered into the minds of men. It was but the full devel-
opment of principles of government, forms of society, and
political sentiments, the origin of all which lay back two
centuries in English and American history.

288 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The spirit of commercial and foreign adventure, there-
fore, on the one hand, which had gained so much strength
and influence since the time of th^ discovery of America,
and, on the other, the assertion and maintenance of rehgious
liberty, having their source indeed in the Reformation, but
continued, diversified, and constantly strengthened by tlie
subsequent divisions of sentiment and opinion among the
Reformers themselves, and this love of religious liberty
drawing after it or bringing along with it, as it always does,
an ardent devotion to the principle of civil liberty also, were
the powerful influences under which character was formed
and men trained, for the great work of introducing Enghsh
civihzation, English law, and what is more than all, Anglo-
Saxon blood, into the wilderness of North America. Ra-
leigh and his companions may be considered as the creatures,
principally, of the first of these causes. High-spirited, full
of the love of personal adventure, excited, too, in some
degree, by the hopes of sudden riches from the discovery
of mines of the precious metals, and not unwilling to diver-
sify the labors of settling a colony with occasional cruisin*g
against the Spaniards in the West Indian seas, they crossed
and recrossed the ocean, with a frequency which surprises
us, when we consider the state of navigation, and which
evinces a ^nost daring spirit.

The other cause peopled New England. The Mayflower
sought our shores under no high-wrought spirit of commer-
cial adventure, no love of gold, no mixture of purpose war-
like or hostile to any human being. Like the dove from
the ark, she had put forth only to find rest. Solemn sup-
plications on the shore of the sea, in Holland, had invoked
for her, at her departure, the blessings of Providence. The
stars which guided her were the unobscured constellations
of civil and religious liberty. Her deck was the altar of
the living God. Fervent prayers on bended knees, mingled,
morning and evening, with the voices of ocean, and the
sighing of the wind in her shrouds. Every prosperous
breeze, which, gently swelling her sails, helped the Pilgrims
onward in their course, awoke new anthems of praise ; and
when the elements were wrought into fury, neither the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 289

tempest, tossing their fragile bark like a feather, nor the
darkness and howling of the midnight storm, ever disturbed,
in man or woman, the firm and settled purpose of their
souls, to undergo all, and to do all, that the meekest pa-
tience, the boldest resolution, and the highest trust in God
could enable human beings to suffer or to perform.

Some differences may, doubtless, be traced at this day
between the descendants of the early colonists of Virginia and
those of New England, owing to the different influences
and different circumstances under which the respective set-
tlements were made; but only enough to create a pleasing
variety in the midst of a general family resemblance. But
the habits, sentiments, and objects of both soon became
modified by local causes, growing out of their condition
in the New World ; and as this condition was essen-
tially alike in both, and as both at once adopted the same
general rules and principles of Enghsh jurisprudence, and
became accustomed to the authority of representative bodies,
these differences gradually diminished. They disappeared
by the progress of time, and the influence of intercourse.
The necessity of some degree of union and cooperation to
defend themselves against the savage tribes, tended to excite
in them mutual respect and regard. They fought together
in the wars against France. The great and common cause
of the Revolution bound them to one another by new links
of brotherhood ; and at length the present constitution of
government united them happily and gloriously, to form the
great republic of the world, and bound up their interests and
fortunes, till the whole earth sees that there is now for them,
in present possession as well as in future hope, but " One
Country, One Constitution, and One Destiny."

Look round upon these fields; they are verdant and
beautiful, well cultivated, and at this moment loaded with
the riches of the early harvest. The hands which till them
are those of the free owners of the soil, enjoying equal
rights, and protected by law from oppression and tyranny.
Look to the thousand vessels in our sight, filling the harbor,
or covering the neighboring sea. They are the vehicles of
a profitable commerce, carried on by men who know that
19

290 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the profits of their hardy enterprise, when they make them,
are their own ; and this commerce is encouraged and regu-
lated by wise laws, and defended, when need be, by the
valor and patriotism of the country. Look to that fair city,
the abode of so much diffused wealth, so much general hap-
piness and comfort, so much personal independence, and so
much general knowledge, and not undistinguished, I may be
permitted to add, for hospitality and social refinement. She
fears no forced contributions, no siege or sacking from mili-
tary leaders of rival factions. The hundred temples in
which her citizens worship God are in no danger of sacri-
lege. Tlie regular administration of the laws encounters no
obstacle. The long |)rocessions of children and youth,
which you see this day, issuing by thousands from her free
schools, prove the care and anxiety with which a popular
government provides for the education and morals of the
people. Every where there is order ; every where there is
security. Every where the law reaches to the highest and
reaches to the lowest, to protect all in their rights, and to
restrain all from wrong ; and over ail hovers liberty ; that
liberty for which our fathers fought and fell on this very
spot, with her eye ever watchful, and her eagle wing ever
wide outspread.

The English colonists in America, generally speaking,
were men who were seeking new homes in a new world.
They brought with them their families and all that was most
dear to them. This was especially the case with the colo-
nists of Plymouth and Massachusetts. Many of them were
educated men, and all possessed their full share, according
to their social condition, of the knowledge and attainments
of that age. The distinctive characteristic of their settle-
ment is the introduction of the civilization of Europe into a
wilderness, without bringing with it the political institutions
of Europe. The arts, sciences, and literature of England
came over with the settlers. That great portion of the
common law which regulates the social and personal rela-
tions and conduct of men, came also. The jury came; the
habeas corpus came ; the testamentary power came ; and
the law of inheritance and descent came also, except that

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 291

part of it which recognizes the rights of primog-eniture,
which either did not come at all, or soon gave way to the
rule of equal partition of estates among children. But the
monarchy did not come, nor the aristocracy, nor the
church, as an estate of the realm. Political institutions
were to he framed anew, such as should be adapted to the
state of things. But it could not be doubtful what should
be the nature and character of these institutions. A general
social equality prevailed among the settlers, and an equality
of political rights seemed the natural, if not the necessary
consequence. It has been said, with much vivacity, that the
felicity of the American colonists consisted in their escape
from the past. This is true so far as respects political es-
tablishments, but no further. They brought with them a
full portion of all the riches of the past, in science, in art, in
morals, religion, and literature. The Bible came with them.
And it is not to be doubted, that to the free and universal
reading of the Bible, in that age, men wer.e much indebted
for right views of civil liberty. The Bible is a book of
faith, and a book of doctrine, and a book of morals, and a
book of religion, of especial revelation from God ; but it is
also a book which teaches man his own individual responsi-
bility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow-man.
Bacon and Locke, and Shakspeare and Milton, also came
with the colotiists. It was the object of the first settlers to
form new political systems, but all that belonged to culti-
vated man, to family, to neighborhood, to social relations,
accompanied them. In the Doric phrase of one of our own
historians, "they came to settle on bare creation;" but
their settlement in the wilderness, nevertheless, was not a
lodgment of nomadic tribes, a mere resting-place of roam-
ing savages. It was the beginning of a permanent commu-
nity, tlie fixed residence of cultivated men. Not only was
English literature read, but English, good English, was
spoken and written, before the axe had made way to let in the
sun upon the habitations and fields of Plymouth and Massa-
chusetts. And whatever may be said to the contrary, a cor-
rect use of the English language is, at this day, more gen-
eral throughout the United States, than it is throughout
England herself.

292 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The great elements, then, of the American system of
government, originally introduced by the colonists, and which
were early in operation, and ready to be developed, more
and more, as the progress of events should justify or demand,
were, —

Escape from the existing political systems of Europe, in-
cluding its religious hierarchies, but the continued possession
and enjoyment of its science and arts, its hterature, and its
manners ;

Home government, or the power of making in the colony
the municipal laws which were to govern it ;

Equality of rights ;

Representative assemblies, or forms of government founded
on popular elections.

Few topics are more inviting, or more fit for philosophical
discussion, than the effect on the happiness of mankind of
institutions founded upon these principles ; or, in other
words, the influence of the New World upon the Old.

Her obligations to Europe for science and art, laws, lit-
erature, and manners, America acknowledges as she ought,
with respect and gratitude. The people of the United
States, descendants of the English stock, grateful for the
treasures of knowledge derived from their English ancestors,
admit also, with thanks and filial regard, that among those
ancestors, under the culture of Hampden and* Sydney and
other assiduous friends, that seed of popular liberty first ger-
minated, which on our soil has shot up to its full height,
until its branches overshadow all the land.

But America has not failed to make returns. If she has
not wholly cancelled the obligation, or equalled it by others
of like weight, she has, at least, made respectable advances
towards repaying the debt. And she admits, that, standing
in the midst of civilized nations, and in a civilized age, a
nation among nations, there is a high part which she is ex-
pected to act, for the general advancement of liuman interests
and human welfare.

American mines have filled the mints of Europe with the
precious metals. The productions of the xlmerican soil and
climate have poured out their abundance of luxuries for the
tables of the rich, and of necessaries for the sustenance of

I

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 293

the poor. Birds and animals of beauty and value have been
added to the European stocks ; and transplantations from
the unequalled riches of our forests have mingled themselves
profjisely with the elms, and ashes, and Druidical oaks of
England.

America has made contributions to Europe far more im-
portant. Who can estimate the amount, or the value, of the
augmentation of the commerce of the world that has re-
sulted from America ? Who can imagine to himself what
would now be the shock to the Eastern Continent, if the
Atlantic were no longer traversable, or if there were no
longer American productions, or American markets ?

But America exercises influences, or holds out examples,
for the consideration of the Old World, of a much higher,
because they are of a moral and political character.

America has furnished to Europe proof of the fact, that
popular institutions, founded on equality and the principle of
representation, are capable of maintaining governments, able
to secure the rights of person, property, and reputation.

America has proved that it is practicable to elevate the
mass of mankind, — that portion which in Europe is called
the laboring, or lower class, — to raise them to self-respect,
to make them competent to act a part in the great right and
great duty of self-government ; and she has proved that this
may be done by education and the diffusion of knowledge.
She holds out an example, a thousand times more encour-
aging than ever was presented before, to those nine tenths
of the human race who are born without hereditary fortune
or hereditary rank.

America has furnished to the world the character of
Washington ! And if our American institutions had done
nothing else, that alone would have entitled them to the
respect of mankind.

Washington ! "First in war, first in peace, and first in
the hearts of his countrymen ! " Washington is all our
own ! The enthusiastic veneration and regard in which the
people of the United States hold him prove them to be
worthy of such a countryman ; while his reputation abroad
reflects the hijjfhest honor on his countrv. I would cheer-

294 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

fully put the question to-day to the intelligence of Europe
and the world, what character of the century, upon the
whole, stands out in ther rehef of history, most pure, most
respectable, most sublime; and I doubt not, that, by a suf-
frage approaching to unanimity, the answer would be Wash-
ington !

The structure now standing before us, by its upriglitness,
its sohdity, its durability, is no unfit emblem of his charac-
ter. His public virtues and public principles were as firm
as the earth on which it stands ; his personal motives, as
pure as the serene heaven in which its summit is lost. But,
indeed, though a fit, it is an inadequate emblem. Towering
high above the column which our hands have builded, beheld,
not by the inhabitants of a single city or a single State, but by
all the families of man, ascends the colossal grandeur of the
character and life of Washington. In all the constituents of
the one, in all the acts of the other, in all its titles to immortal
love, admiration, and renown, it is an American production.
It is the embodiment and vindication of our Transatlantic
liberty. Born upon our soil, of parents also born upon it ;
never for a moment having had sight of the Old World ;
instructed, according to the modes of his time, only in the
spare, plain, but wholesome elementary knowledge which
our institutions provide for the children of the people ;
growing up beneath and penetrated by the genuine influ-
ences of American society ; living from infancy to manhood
and age amidst our expanding, but not luxurious civilization ;
partaking in our great destiny of labor, our long contest
with unreclaimed nature and uncivilized man, our agony of
glory, the war of Independence, our great victory of peace,
the formation of the Union, and the establishment of the
Constitution ; he is all, all our own ! Washington is ours.
That crowded and glorious life, —

" Where multitudes of virtues passed along,
Each pressing foremost, in the mighty throng
Ambitious to be seen, then malcing room
For greater multitudes that were to come," —

that life was the life of an American citizen.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 295

I claim him for America. In all the perils, in every
darkened moment of the state, in the midst of the re-
proaches of enemies and the misgiving of friends, 1 turn to
that transcendent name for courage and for consolation.
To him who denies or doubts whether our fervid liberty can
be combined with law, with order,, with the security of
property, with the pursuits and advancement of happiness ;
to him who denies that our forms of government are capable
of producing exaltation of soul, and the pa.ssion of true
glory ; to him who denies that we have contributed any
thing to the stock of great lessons and great examples ; —
to all these I reply by pointing to Washington !

And now, friends and fellow-citizens, it is time to bring
this discourse to a close.

We have indulged in gratifying recollections of the past,
in the prosperity and pleasures of the present, and in high
hopes for the future. But let us remember that we have
iuties and obligations to perform, corresponding to the
blessings which we enjoy. Let us remember the trust, the
sacred trust, attaching to the rich inlieritance which we have
received from our fathers. Let us feel our personal re-
sponsibility, to the full extent of our power and influence,
for the preservation of the principles of civil and religious
liberty. And let us remember that it is only religion, and
morals, and knowledge, that can make men respectable and
happy, under any form of government. Let us hold fast the
great truth, that communities are responsible, as well as in-
iividuals; that no government is respectable, which is not
iust ; that without unspotted purity of public faith, without
sacred public principle, fidelity, and honor, no mere forms
of government, no machinery of laws, can give dignity to
political society. In our day and generation let us seek to
raise and improve the moral sentiment, so that we may look,
not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improved future.
And when both we and our children shall have been con-
signed to the house appointed for all living, may love of
country and pride of country glow with equal fervor among
those to whom our names and our blood shall have de-
scended ! And then, when honored and decrepit age shall

296 CONSTITUTIONAL, TEXT BOOK.

lean against the base of this monument, and troops of ingen
uous youth shall be gathered round it, and when the one
shall speak to the other of its objects, the purposes of its
construction, and the great and gh)rious events with which
it is connected, there shall rise from every youthful breast
the ejaculation, ''Thank God, I™ I also — am an Ameri-
can ! "

THE CHKISTIAN MINISTRY AND THE KELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

OF THE YOUNU.

Speech delivered in the Supreme Court at Washington, on the ^Gth of Fehniary, 1844, in
t?ie Case of the Heirs at Laic of the late Stephen Girard, against the Mayor, ^Idermeny
and Citizens of Philadelphia, Hie Executors of Stephen Oirard. The Case was decided
in Favor of the Will.

May it please your Honors : — It is not necessary for
me to narrate, in detail, the numerous provisions of Mr.
Girard's will. This has already been repeatedly done by
other counsel, and I shall content myself with stating and
considering those parts only which are immediately involved
in the decision of this cause.

The testator proceeds to give his directions respecting
the institution, laying down his plan and objects in several
articles. The third article is in these words : —

" 3. As many poor white male orphans, between the ages of six and
ten years, as the said income shall be adequate to maintain, shall be in-
troduced into the college as soon as possible ; and from time to time, as
there may be vacancies, or as increased ability from income may war-
rant, others shall be introduced."

The testator proceeds to say, that he necessarily leaves
many details to the city government ; and then adds,
" There are, however, some restrictions which I consider
it my duty to prescribe, and to be, amongst others, condi-
tions on which my bequest for said college is made, and to
be enjoyed."

The second of these restrictions is in the following
words : —

" Secondly. I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, rnissionari/, or mirt'
ister, of anij sect loliate.ver, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty ichat
ever in the said college ; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any

SELECTIONS F^OM WEBSTER. 297

purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of

(he said college.'^

This scheme of instruction begins by attempting to attack
reproach and odium to the whole clergy of the country. It
places a brand, a stigma, on every individual member of the
profession, without an exception. No minister of the Gos-
pel, of any denomination, is to be allowed to come within
the grounds belonging to this school, on any occasion, or
for any purpose whatever. They are all rigorously ex-
cluded, as if their mere presence might cause pestilence.
We have heard it said that Mr. Girard, by this will, distrib-
uted his charity without distinction of sect or party. How-
ever that may be. Sir, he certainly has dealt out opprobrium
to the whole profession of the clergy, without regard to sect
or party.

By this will, no minister of the Gospel of any sect or de-
nomination whatever can be authorized or allowed to hold
any office within the college ; and not only that, but no
minister or clergyman of any sect can, for any purpose
whatever, enter within the walls that are to surround this col-
lege. If a clergyman has a sick nephew, or a sick grand-
son, he cannot, upon any pretext, be allowed to visit him with-
in the walls of the college. The provision of the will is ex-
press and decisive. Still less may a clergyman enter to
offer consolation to the sick, or to unite in prayer with the
dying.

Now, I will not arraign Mr. Girard or his motives for
this. I will not inquire into Mr. Girard's opinions upon re-
ligion. But I feel bound to say, the occasion demands that
I should say, that this is the most opprobrious, the most in-
sulting and unmerited stigma, that ever was cast, or at-
tempted to be cast, upon the preachers of Christianity, from
north to south, from east to west, through the length and
breadth of the land, in the history of the country. When
have they deserved it ? Where have they deserved it 1
How have they deserved it ? They are not to be allowed
even the ordinary rights of hospitality : not even to be
permitted to put their foot over the threshold of this
college !

298 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Sir, I take it upon myself to say, that in no country in
the world, upon either continent, can there be found a body
of ministers of the Gospel who perform so much service to
man, in such a full spirit of self-denial, under so little en-
courajjement from government of any kind, and under cir-
cumstances almost always much straitened and often dis-
tressied, as the ministers of the Gospel in the United States,
of all denominations. They form no part of any estab-
lished order of religion ; they constitute no hierarchy ; they
enjoy no peculiar privileges. In some of the States they
are even shut out from all participation in the political rights
and yjrivileges enjoyed by their fellow-citizens. They enjoy
no tithes, no public provision of any kind. Except here
and tliere, in large cities, where a wealthy individual occa-
sionally makes a donation for the support of public worship,
what have they to depend upon ? They have to depend
entirely on the voluntary contributions of those who heiar
them.

And this body of clergymen has shown, to the honor of
their own country and to the astonishment of the hierarchies
of the Old World, that it is practicable in free governments to
raise and sustain by voluntary contributions alone a body of
clergymen, which, for devotedness to their sacred calling,
for purity of life and character, for learning, intelligence,
piety, and that wisdom which cometh from above, is inferior
to none, and superior to most others.

I hope that our learned men have done something for the
honor of our literature abroad. 1 hope that the courts of
justice and members of the bar of this country have done
something to elevate the character of the profession of the
law. I hope that the discussions above (in Congress) have
done something to meliorate the condition of the human
race, to secure and extend the great charter of human
rights, and to strengthen and advance the great principles
of human liberty. But I contend that no literary efforts,
no adjudications, no constitutional discussions, nothing that
has been done or said in favor of the great interests of uni-
versal man, has done this country more credit, at home and
abroad, than the establishment of our body of cleraymen,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 299

their support by voluntary contributions, and the general
excellence of their character for piety and learnino^.

The great truth has tlius been proclaimed and proved, a
iruth which I believe will in time to come shake all the
hierarchies of Europe, that the voluntary support of such a
ministry, under free institutions, is a practicable idea.

And yet every one of these, the Christian ministers of the
United States, is by this devise denied the privileges whicli
are at the same time open to the vilest of our race ; every
one is shut out from this, I had almost said, sanctum, but I
will not profane that word by such a use of it.

The devise before us proposes to establish, as its main ob-
ject, a school of learning, a college. There are provisions,
of course, for lodging, clothing, and feeding the pupils, but
all this is subsidiary. The great object is the instruction of
the young; although it proposes to give the children better
food and clothes and lodging, and proposes that the system
of education shall be somewhat better than that which is
usually provided for the poor and destitute in our pubhc in-
stitutions generally.

The main object, then, is to establish a school of learn-
ing for children, beginning with them at a very tender age,
and retaining them (namely, from six years to eighteen) till
they are on the verge of manhood, when they will have ex-
pended more than one third part of the average duration of
human life. For if the college takes them at six, and keeps
them till they are eighteen, a period of twelve years will be
passed within its walls ; more than a third part of the aver-
age of' human life. These children, then, are to be taken
almost before they learn their alphabet, and be discharged
about the time that men enter on the active business of life.
At six, many do not know their alphabet. .Tohn Wesley
did not know a letter till after he was six years old, and his
mother then took him on her lap, and taught him his alpha-
bet at a single lesson. There are many parents who think
that any attempt to instil the rudiments of education into the
mind of a child at an earlier age, is little better than labor
thrown away.

Tlie great object, then, which Mr. Girard seemed to have

300 CONSTlTUTIONAIi TEXT BOOK.

in view, was to take these orphans at this very tender age,
and to keep them within his walls until they were entering
manhood. And this object I pray your honors steadily to
bear in mind.

I never, in the whole course of my life, listened to any
thing with more sincere delight, than to the remarks of my
learned friend who opened this cause, on the nature and
character of true charity. I agree with every word he said
on that subject. I almost envy him his power of expressing
so happily what his mind conceives so clearly and correctly.
He is right when he speaks of it as an emanation from the
Christian religion. He is right when he says that it has its
origin in the word of God. He is right when he says that
it was unknown throughout all the world till the first dawn
of Christianity. He is right, preeminently right, in all this,
as he was preeminently happy in his power of clothing his
thoughts and feelings in appropriate forms of speech. And
I maintain, that, in any institution for the instruction of
youth, where the authority of God is disowned, and the
duties of Christianity derided and despised, and its ministers
shut out from all participation in its proceedings, there can
no more be charity, true charity, found to exist, than evil
can spring out of the Bible, error out of truth, or hatred
and animosity come forth from the bosom of perfect love.
No, Sir ! No, Sir ! If charity denies its birth and parent-
age, if it turns infidel to the great doctrines of the Christian
religion, if it turns unbeliever, it is no longer charity !
There is no longer charity, either in a Christian sense or in
the sense of jurisprudence ; for it separates itself from the
fountain of its own creation.

Now, let us look at the condition and prospects of these
tender children, who are to be submitted to this experiment
of instruction without Christianity. In the first place, they
are orphans, have no parents to guide or instruct them in
the way in which they should go, no father, no religious
mother, to lead them to the pure fount of Christianity ;
they are orphans. If they were only poor, there might be
somebody bound by ties of human aftection to look after
their spiritual welfare ; to see that they imbibed no ,erro-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 801

neons opinions on the subject of religion ; that they run
into no excessive improprieties of beUef as well as conduct.
The child would have its father or mother to teach it to lisp
the name of its Creator in prayer, or hymn His praise.
But in this experimental school of instruction, if the orphans
have any friends or connections able to look after their
welfare, it shuts them out. It is made the duty of the gov-
ernors of the institution, on taking the child, so to make out
the indentures of apprenticeship as to keep him from any
after interference in his welfare on the part of guardians or
relatives ; to keep them from withdrawing him from the
school, or interfering with his instruction whilst he is in the
school, in any manner whatever.

Now, I suppose there is nothing in the New Testament
more clearly established by the Author of Christianity, ♦than
the appointment of a Christian ministry. The world was
to be evangelized, was to be brought out of darkness into
light, by the influences of the Christian religion, spread and
propagated by the instrumentality of man. A Christian
ministry was therefore appointed by the Author of the Chris-
tian religion himself, and it stands on the same authority as
any other part of his religion. When the lost sheep of the
house of Israel were to be brought to the knowledge of
Christianity, the disciples were commanded to go forth into
all the cities, and to preach " that the kingdom of heaven is
at hand." It was added, that whosoever would not receive
them, nor hear their words, it should be more tolerable for
Sodom and Gomorrah than for them. And after his resur-
rection, in the appointment of the great mission to the whole
human race, the Author of Christianity commanded his dis-
ciples that they should " go into all the world, and preach
the Gospel to every creature." This was one of his last
commands ; and one of his last promises was the assurance,
" Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world ! "
I say, therefore, there is nothing set forth more authentical-
ly in the New Testament than the appointment of a Chris-
tian ministry ; and he who does not believe this does not
and cannot believe the rest.

It is true that Christian ministers, in this age of the world,

302 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

are selected in different ways and different modes by differ
ent sects and denominations. But there are, still, ministers
of all sects and denominations. Why should we shut our
eyes to the whole history of Christianity ? Is it not the
preaching of ministers of the Gospel that has evangelized
the more civilized part of the world 1 Why do we at this
day enjoy the lights and benefits of Christianity ourselves ?
Do we not owe it to the instrumentality of the Christian
ministry ? The ministers of Christianity, departing from
Asia Minor, traversing Asia, Africa, and Europe, to Iceland,
Greenland, and the poles of the earth, suffering all things,
enduring all things, hoping all things, raising men every
where from the ignorance of idol worship to the knowledge
of the true God, and every where bringing life and immor-
talitjj to light through the Gospel, have only been acting in
obedience to the Divine instruction ; they were commanded
to go forth, and they have gone forth, and they still go
forth. They have sought, and they still seek, to be able to
preach the Gospel to every creature under the whole heaven.
In the next place, this scheme of education is derogatory
to Christianity, because it proceeds upon the presumption
that the Christian religion is not the only true foundation,
or any necessary foundation, of morals. The ground taken
is, that religion is not necessary to morality ; that benevo-
lence meiy be insured by habit, and that all the virtues may
flourish, and be safely left to the chance of flourishing, with-
out touching the waters of the living spring of religious
responsibility. With him who thinks thus, what can be the
value of the Christian revelation ? So the Christian world
has not thought ; for by that Christian world, throughout its
broadest extent, it has been, and is, held as a fundamenttd
truth, that religion is the only solid basis of morals, and that
moral instruction not resting on this basis is only a building
upon sand. And at what age of the Christian era have
those who professed to teach the Christian religion, or to
believe in its authority and importance, not insisted on the
absolute necessity of inculcating its principles and its pre-
cepts upon the minds of the young ? In what age, by what
sect, where, when, by whom, has religious truth been ex-

r

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 303

eluded from the education of youth 1 Nowhere ; never.
Every where, and at all times, it has been, and is, regarded
as essential. It is of the essence, the vitality, of useful in
struction. From all this Mr. Girard dissents. His plan
denies the necessity and the propriety of religious instruc-
tion as a part of the education of youth. He dissents, not
only from all the sentiments of Christian mankind, from all
common conviction, and from the results of all experience,
but he dissents also from still higher authority, the w^ord of
God itself. My learned friend has referred, with propriety,
to one of the commands of the Decalogue ; but there is
another, a first commandment, and that is a precept of re-
ligion, and it is in subordination to this that the moral pre-
cepts of the Decalogue are proclaimed. This first great
commandment teaches man that there is one, and only one,
great First Cause, one, and only one, proper object of
human worship. This is the great, the ever fresh, the
overflowing fountain of all revealed truth. Without it
human life is a desert, of no known termination on any
side, but shut in on all sides by a dark and impenetrable
horizon. Without the light of this truth, man knows
nothing of his origin, and nothing of his end. And when
the Decalogue was delivered to the .Tews, with this great
announcement and command at its head, what said the in-
spired lawgiver ? that it should be kept from children ? that
it should be reserved as a communication lit only for mature
age 1 Far, far otherwise. " And these words, which I
command thee this day, shall be in thy heart. And thou
shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk
of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou
walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up."

There is an authority still more imposing and awful.
When little children were brought into the presence of the
Son of God, his disciples proposed to send them away ; but
he said, " Suffer little children to come unto me." Unto
me; he did not send them first for lessons in morals to the
schools of the Pharisees or to the unbelieving Sadducees,
nor to read the precepts and lessons phylacteried on the gar-*

304 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ments of the Jewish priesthood ; he said nothing of different
creeds or clashing doctrines ; but he opened at once to the
youthful mind the everlasting fountain of living waters, the
only source of eternal truths : " Suffer little children to
come unto me." And that injunction is of perpetual obliga-
tion. It addresses itself to-day with the same earnestness
and the same authority which attended its first utterance to
the Christian world. It is of force every where, and at all
times. It extends to the ends of the earth, it will reach to
the end of time, always and every where sounding in the
ears of men, with an emphasis which no repetition can
weaken, and with an authority which nothing can supersede :
" Suffer little children to come unto me."

And not only my heart, and my judgment, my belief, and
my conscience, instruct me that this great precept should be
obeyed, but the idea is so sacred, the solemn thoughts con-
nected with it so crowd upon me, it is so utterly at variance
with this system of philosophical morality which we have
heard advocated, that I stand and speak here in fear of being
influenced by my feelings to exceed the proper hne of my
professional duty. Go thy way at this time, is the language
of philosophical morality, and I will send for thee at a more
convenient season. This is the language of Mr. Girard in
his will. In this there is neither religion nor reason.

The earliest and the most urgent intellectual want of
human nature is the knowledge of its origin, its duty, and
its destiny. " Whence am I, what am I, and what is before
me 1 " This is the cry of the human soul, so soon as it
raises its contemplation above visible, material things.

When an intellectual being finds himself on this earth, as
soon as the faculties of reason operate, one of the first in-
quiries of his mind is, " Shall I be here always 1 " " Shall I
live here for ever ? " And reasoning from what he sees daily
occurring to others, he learns to a certainty that his state of
being must one day be changed. I do not mean to deny, that
it may be true that he is created with this consciousness ; but
whether it be consciousness, or the result of his reasoning
faculties, man soon learns that he must die. And of all sen-
tient beings, he alone, so far as we can judge, attains to this

I

SELIJCTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 305

knowledge. His Maker has made him capable of learning
this. Before he knows his origin and destiny, he knows that
he is to die. Then comes that most urgent and solemn de-
mand for light that ever proceeded, or can proceed, from the
profound and anxious broodings of the human soul. It is
stated, with wonderful force and beauty, in that incomparable
composition, the book of .Tob : " For there is hope of a tree,
if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender
branch thereof will not cease ; that, through the scent of
water, it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But
if a man die, shall he live again ? " And that question noth-
ing but God, and the rehgion of God, can solve. Religion
does solve it, and teaches every man that he is to live again,
and that the duties of this life have reference to the life
which is to come. And hence, since the introduction of
Christianity, it has been the duty, as it has been the etibrt,
of the great and the good, to sanctify human knowledge, to
bring it to the fount, and to baptize learning into Christianity;
to gather up all its productions, its earliest and its latest, its
blossoms and its fruits, and lay them all upon the altar of
religion and virtue.

Another important point involved in this question is. What
becomes of the Christian Sabbath, in a school thus estab-
lished 1 I do not mean to say that this stands exactly on
the same authority as the Christian religion, but I mean to
say that the observance of the Sabbath is a part of Chris-
tianity in all its forms. All Christians admit the observance
of the Sabbath. All admit that there is a Lord's day, al-
though there may be a difference in the belief as to which
is the right day to be observed. Now, I say that in this
institution, under Mr. Girard's scheme, the ordinary ob-
servance of the Sabbath could not take place, because the
ordinary means of observing it are excluded.

I grant that the mind of youth sJiould be kept pliant, and
free from all undue and erroneous influences; that it should
have as much play as is consistent with prudence ; but
put it where it can obtain the elementary principles of re-
ligious truth ; at any rate, those broad and general precepts
and principles which are admitted by all Christians. But
20

306 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

here, in this scheme of Mr. Girard, all sects and all creeds
are denounced. And would not a prudent father rather
send his child where he could get instruction under any
form of the Christian religion, than where he could get
none at all 2 There are many instances of institutions, pro-
fessing one leading creed, educating youths of diiferent sects.
The Baptist college in Rhode Island receives and educates
youths of all religious sects and all beliefs. The colleges
all over New England differ in certain minor points of be-
lief, and yet that is held to be no ground for excluding
youth with other forms of belief, and other religious views
and sentiments.

But this objection to the multitude and differences of sects
is but the old story, the old infidel argument. It is notori-
ous that there are certain great religious truths which are
admitted and believed by all Christians. All believe in the
existence of a God. All believe in the immortality of the
soul. All believe in the responsibility, in another world, for
our conduct in this. All believe in the divine authority of
the New Testament, Dr. Paley says that a single word
from the New Testament shuts up the mouth of human
questioning, and excludes all human reasoning. And can-
not all these great truths be taught to children without their
minds being perplexed with clashing doctrines and sectarian
controversies ? Most certainly they can.

And, to compare secular with religious matters, what
would become of the organization of society, what would
become of man as a social being, in connection with the
social system, if we applied this mode of reasoning to him
in his social relations ? We have a constitutional govern-
ment, about the powers, and limitations, and uses of which
there is a vast amount of differences of belief. Your honors
have a body of laws, now before you, in relation tc which
differences of opinion, almost innumerable, are daily spread
before the courts ; in all these we see clashing doctrines and
opinions advanced daily, to as great an extent as in the re-
Hgious world.

Apply the reasoning advanced by Mr. Girard to human
institutions, and you will tear them all up by the root ; as

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 307

you would inevitably tear all divine institutions up by the
root, if such reasoning is to prevail. At the meeting; of the
first Congress, there vv^as a doubt in the minds of many of
the propriety of opening the session with prayer; and the
reason assigned was, as here, the great diversity of opinion
and religious behef. At length Mr. Samuel Adanas, with
his gray hairs hanging about his shoulders, and with an im-
pressive venerableness now seldom to be met with, (I suppose
owing to the difference of habits,) rose in that assembly,
and, with the air of a perfect Puritan, said that it did not
become men, professing to be Christian men, who had come
together for solemn deliberation in the hour of their extrem-
ity, to say that there was so wide a difference in their reli-
gious belief, that they could not, as one man, bow the knee
in prayer to the Almighty, whose advice and assistance they
hoped to obtain. Independent as he was, and an enemy to
all prelacy as he was known to be, he moved that the Rev.
Mr. Duche, of the Episcopal Church, should address the
Throne of Grace in prayer. And John Adams, in a letter
to his wife, says that he never saw a more moving spectacle.
Mr. Duche read the Episcopal service of the Church of
England, and then, as if moved by the occasion, he broke
out into extemporaneous prayer. And those men, who were
then about to resort to force to obtain their rights, were
moved to tears ; and floods of tears, Mr. Adams says, ran
down the cheeks of the pacific Quakers who formed part
of that most interesting assembly. Depend upon it, where
there is a spirit of Christianity, there is a spirit which rises
above forms, above ceremonies, independent of sect or creed,
and the controversies of clashing doctrines.

The consolations of religion can never be administered
to any of these sick and dying children in this college. It
is said, indeed, that a poor, dying child can be carried out
beyond the walls of the school. He can be carried out to
a hostelry, or hovel, and there receive those rites of the
Christian religion which cannot, be performed within those
walls, even in his dying hour! Is not all this shocking]
What a stricture is it upon this whole scheme ! What an

308 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Utter condemnation ! A dying youth cannot receive reli
gious solace within this seminary of learning !

The truth is, that those who really value Christianity, and
believe in its importance, not only to the spiritual welfare
of man, but to the safety and prosperity of human society,
rejoice that in its revelations and its teachings there is so
mucJi which mounts above controversy, and stands on uni-
versal acknowledgment. While many things about it are
disputed or are dark, they still plainly see its foundation,
and its main pillars ; and they behold in it a sacred struc-
ture, rising up to the heavens. They wish its general prin-
ciples, and all its great truths, to be spread over the whole
earth. But those who do not value Christianity, nor believe
in its importance to society or individuals, cavil about sects
and schisms, and ring monotonous changes upon the shallow
and so often refuted objections founded on alleged variety
of discordant creeds and clashing doctrines.

I have heretofore argued to show that the Christian reli-
gion, its general principles, must ever be regarded among us
as the foundation of civil society ; and I have thus far con-
fined my remarks to the tendency and effect of the scheme
of Mr. Girard (if carried out) upon the Christian religion.
But I will go farther, and say that this school, this scheme
or system, in its tendencies and effects, is opposed to all re-
ligions, of every kind. I will not now enter into a contro-
versy with my learned friend about the word " tenets,"
whetlier it signify opinions or dogmas, or whatever you
please. Religious tenets, I take it, and I suppose it will be
generally conceded, mean religious opinions ; and if a youth
has arrived at the age of eighteen, and has no religious
tenets, it is very plain that he has no religion. I do not
care whether you call them dogmas, tenets, or opinions. If
the youth does not entertain dogmas, tenets, or opinions, or
opinions, tenets, or dogmas, on religious subjects, then he
has no religion at all. And this strikes at a broader princi-
ple than when you merely look at this school in its effect
upon Christianity alone. We will suppose the case of a
youth of eighteen, who has just left this school, and has

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 309

gone through an education of philosophical morality, pre-
cisely in accordance with the views and expressed wishes of
the donor. He comes then into the world to choose his re-
hgious tenets. The very next day, perhaps, after leaving
school, he comes into a court of law to give testimony as a
witness. Sir, I protest that by such a system he would be
disfranchised. He is asked, " What is your religion 1 "
His reply is, " O, I have not yet chosen any; I am going
to look round, and see which suits me best." He is asked,
" Are you a Christian 1 " He replies, " That involves re-
ligious tenets, and as yet I have not been allowed to enter-
tain any." Again, "Do you believe in a future state of
rewards and punishments ? " And he answers, " That in-
volves sectarian controversies, which have carefully been
kept from me." " Do you believe in the existence of a
God 1 " He answers, that there are clashing doctrines in-
volved in these things, which he has been taught to have
nothing to do with ; that the belief in the existence of a
God, being one of the first questions in religion, he is
shortly about to think of that proposition. Why, Sir, it is
vain to talk about the destructive tendency of such a sys-
tem ; to argue upon it is to insult the understanding of every
man ; it is mere, sheer, low, ribald, vulgar deism and infidel-'
iti/.*' It opposes all that is in heaven, and all on earth that
is worth being on earth. It destroys the connecting link
between the creature and the Creator; it opposes that great
system of universal benevolence and goodness that binds
man to his Maker. No religion till he is eighteen! What
would be the condition of all our families, of all our chil-
dren, if religious fathers and religious mothers were to
teach their sons and daughters no religious tenets till they
were eighteen ? What would become of their morals, their
character, their purity of heart and life, their hope for time
and eternity 1 What would become of all those thousand
ties of sweetness, benevolence, love, and Christian feeling,
that now render our young men and young maidens like
comely plants growing up by a streamlet's side ; the graces

=* The effect of this remark was almost electric, and some one in the
court room broke out in applause.

310 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and the grace of opening manhood, of blossoming woman-
hood ? What would become of all that now renders the
social circle lovely and beloved 1 What would become of
society itself? How could it exist ? And is that to be con-
sidered a charity which strikes at the root of all this ; which
subverts all the excellence and the charms of social life ;
which tends to destroy the very foundation and framework
of society, both in its practices and in its opinions ; which
subverts the whole decency, the whole morahty, as well as
the whole Christianity and government, of society 7 No,
Sir ! no. Sir !

I now take leave of this cause. I look for no good what-
ever from the establishment of this school, this college, this
scheme, this experiment of an education in " practical mo-
rality," unblessed by the influences of religion. It sometimes
happens to man to attain by accident that which he could
not achieve by long-continued exercise of industry and abil-
ity. And it is said even of the man of genius, that by
chance he will sometimes " snatch a grace beyond the reach
of art." And I believe that men sometimes do mischief,
not only beyond their intent, but beyond the ordinary scope
of their talents and ability. In my opinion, if Mr. Girard
had given years to the study of a mode by which he could
dispose of his vast fortune so that no good could arise to
the general cause of charity, no good to the general cause
of learning, no good to human society, and which should be
most productive of protracted struggles, troubles, and diffi-
culties in the popular councils of a great city, he could not
so effectually have attained that result as he has by this de-
vise now before the court. It is not the result of good for-
tunes, but of bad fortunes, which have overridden and cast
down whatever of good might have been accomplished by a
different disposition. I believe that this plan, this scheme,
was unblessed in all its purposes, and in all its original
plans. Unwise in all its frame and theory, while it lives it
will lead an annoyed and troubled life, and leave an un-
blessed memory when it dies. If 1 could persuade myself
that this court would come to such a decision as, in my
opinion, the public good and the law require, and if I could

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 311

believe that any humble efforts of my own had contributed
in the least to lead to such a result, I should deem it the
crowning mercy of my professional life.

ME. JUSTICE STORY.

At a meeting of the Suffolk Bar, held in the Circuit Court Room, Bos-
ton, on the morning of the 12th of September, 184.5, the day of the funeral
of Mr. Justice Story, Chief Justice Shaw having taken the chair and
announced the object of the meeting, Mr. Webster rose and spoke sub-
stantially as follows : —

Your solemn announcement, Mr. Chief Justice, has con-
firmed the sad intelligence which had already reached us,
through the public channels of information, and deeply
afflicted us all.

Joseph Story, one of the Associate Justices of the
Supreme Court of the United States, and for many years
the presiding judge of tliis Circuit, died on Wednesday
evening last, at his house in Cambridge, wanting only a few
days for the completion of the sixty- sixth year of liis age.

This most mournful and lamentable event has called
together the whole Bar of Suffolk, and all connected with
the courts of law or the profession. It has brought you,
Mr. Chief Justice, and your associates of the Bench of the
Supreme Court of Massachusetts, into the midst of us ; and
you have done us the honor, out of respect to the occasion,
to consent to preside over us, while we deliberate on what is
due, as well to our own afflicted and smitten feelings, as to
the exalted character and eminent distinction of the deceased
judge. The occasion has drawn from his retirement, also,
that venerable man, whom we all so much respect and
honor, (Judge Davis,) who was, for thirty years, the asso-
ciate of the deceased upon the same Bencii. It has called
hither another judicial personage, now in retirement, (Judge
Putnam,) but long an ornament of that Bench of which you
are now the head, and whose marked good fortune it is to
have been the professional teacher of Mr. Justice Story, and
the director of his early studies. He also is present to

812 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

whom this blow comes near ; I mean, the learned judge
(Judge Sprao^ue) from whose side it has struck away a
friend and a higisly-venerated^ official associate. The mem-
bers of the Law School at Cambridge, to which the deceased
was so much attached, and who returned that attachment
with all the ingenuousness and enthusiasm of educated and
ardent youthful minds, are here also, to manifest their sense
of their own severe deprivation, as well as their admiration
of the bright and shining professional example which they
have so loved to contemplate — an example, let me say to
them, and let me say to all, as a solace in the midst of their
sorrows, which death hath not touched and which time can-
not obscure.

Mr. Chief .Tustice, one sentiment pervades us all. It is
that of the most profound and penetrating grief, mixed,
nevertheless, with an assured conviction, that the great man
whom we deplore is yet with us and in the midst of us. He
hath not wliolly died. He lives in the affections of friends
and kindred, and in the high regard of the community. He
lives in our remembrance of his social virtues, his warm and
steady friendships, and the vivacity and richness of his con-
versation. He lives, and will live still more permanently, by
his words of written wisdom, by the results of his vast re-
searches and attainments, by his imperishable legal judg-
ments, and by those judicial disquisitions which have stamped
his name, all over the civihzed world, with the character of
a commanding authority. "Vivit, enim, vivetque semper;
atque etiam latius in memoria hominum et sermone versa-
bitur, postquam ab oculis recessit."

Mr. Chief Justice, there are consolations which arise to
mitigate our loss, and shed the influence of resignation over
unfeigned and heartfelt sorrow. We are all penetrated with
gratitude to God that the deceased lived so long ; that he
did so much for himself, his friends, the country, and the
world ; that his lamp went out, at last, without unsteadiness
or flickering. He continued to exercise every power of his
mind without dimness or obscuration, and every affection of
his heart with no abatement of energy or warmth, till death
drew an impenetrable veil between us and him. Indeed, he

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 313

seems to us now, as in truth lie is, not extinguished or
ceasing' to he, but only withdrawn ; as the clear sun goes
down at its setting, not darkened, but onlj no longer seen.

This calamity, Mr. Chief Justice, is not confined to the
bar or the courts of this Commonwealth. It will be felt by
every bar throughout the land, by every court, and indeed
by every intelligent and well-informed man in or out of the
profession. It will be felt still more widely, for his reputa-
tion had a still wider rano^e. In the Hi»:h Court of Parlia-
ment, in every tribunal in Westminster Hall, in the judica-
tories of Paris and Berlin, of Stockholm and St. Peters-
burg, in the learned universities of Germany, Italy, and
Spain, by every eminent jurist in the civilized world, it will
be acknowledged that a great luminary has fallen from the
firmament of public jurisprudence.

Sir, there is no purer pride of country than that in which
we may indulge when we see America paying back the great
debt of civilization, learning, and science to Europe. In
this hiij::h return of h^ht for li"ht and mind for mind, in this
august reckoning and accounting between the intellects of
nations, .Joseph Story was destined by Providence to act,
and did act, an important part. Acknowledging, as we all
acknowledge, our obligations to the original sources of Eng-
lish law, as well as of civil liberty, we have seen in our gen-
eration copious and salutary streams turning and running
backward, replenishing their original fountains, and giving a
fresher and a brighter green to the fields of English juris-
prudence. By a sort of reversed hereditary transmission,
the mother, without envy or humiliation, acknowledges that
she has received a valuable and cherished inheritance from
the daughter. The profession in England admits, with
frankness and candor, and with no feeling but that of respect
and admiration, that he whose voice we have so recently
heard within these walls, but shall now hear no more, was,
of all men wijo have yet appeared, most fitted by the com-
prehensiveness of his mind, and the vast" extent and accuracy
of his attainments, to compare the codes of nations, to trace
their diilerences to difference of origin, climate, or religious
or pohtical institutions, and to exhibit, nevertheless, their

314 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

concurrence in those g-reat principles upon which the system
of human civihzation rests.

Justice, Sir, is the great interest of man on earth. It is
the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations
together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as it is
duly honored, there is a foundation for social security, general
happiness, and the improvement and progress of our race.
And whoever labors on this edifice with usefulness and dis-
tinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pil-
lars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august
dome still higher in the skies, connects himself, in name,
and fame, and character, with that which is and must be as
durable as the frame of human society.

All know, Mr. Chief Justice, the pure love of country
which animated the deceased, and the zeal, as well as the
talent, with which he explained and defended her institu-
tions. His work on the Constitution of the United States is
one of his most eminently successful labors. But all his
writings, .and all his judgments, all his opinions, and the
whole influence of his character, public and private, leaned
strongly and always to the support of sound principles, to the
restraint of illegal power, and to the discouragement and
rebuke of licentious and disorganizing sentiments. " Ad
rempublicam firmandam, et ad stabiliendas vires, et sanan-
dum populum, omnis ejus pergebat institutio."

But this is not the occasion. Sir, nor is it for me to con-
sider and discuss at length the character and merits of Mr.
Justice Story, as a writer or a judge. The performance of
that duty, with which this Bar will no doubt charge itself,
must be deferred to another opportunity, and will be com-
mitted to abler hands. But in the homage paid to his
memory, one part may come with peculiar propriety and
emphasis from ourselves. We have known him in private
life. We have seen him descend from the bench, and min-
gle in our friendly circles. We have known his manner of
life, from his youth up. We can bear witness to the strict
uprightness and purity of his character, his simplicity and
unostentatious habits, the ease and affability of his inter-
course, his remarkable vivacity amidst severe labors, the

SELECTIONS: FROM WEBSTER. 315

cheerful and animating tones of his conversation, and his
fast fidehty to friends. Some of us, also, can testify to his
large and liberal charities, not ostentatious or casual, but sys-
tematic and sileut — dispensed almost without showing the
hand, and falling and distilling comfort and happiness, Hke
the dews of heaven. But we can testify, also, that in all his
pursuits and employments, in all his recreations, in all his
commerce with the world, and in his intercourse with the
circle of his friends, the predominance of his judicial char-
acter was manifest. He never forgot the ermine which he
wore. The judge, the judge, the useful and distinguished
judge, was the great picture which he kept constantly before
his eyes, and to a resemblance of which all his efforts, all
his thoughts, all his life, were devoted.

Mr. Chief Justice, one may live as a conqueror, a king,
or a magistrate ; but he must die as a man. The bed of
death brings every human being to his pure individuality; to
the intense contemplation of that deepest and most solemn
of all relations, the relation between the creature and his
Creator. Here it is that fame and renown cannot assist us ;
that all external things must fail to aid us ; that even friends,
affection, and human love and devotedness, cannot succor
us. This relation, the true foundation of all duty, a rela-
tion perceived and felt by conscience and confirmed by reve-
lation, our illustrious friend, now deceased, always acknowl-
edged. He reverenced the Scriptures of truth, honored the
pure morality which they teach, and clung to the hopes of
future life which they impart. He beheld enough in nature,
in himself, and in all that can be known of things seen, to
feel assured that there is a Supreme Power, without whose
providence not a sparrow falleth to the ground. To this
gracious Being he trusted himself for time and for eternity ;
and the last words of his lips ever heard by mortal ears
were a fervant supplication to his Maker to take him to
himself.

316 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

SOUTHERN TOUR.

In the month of May, 1847, Mr. Webster made a visit to the Southern
Atlantic States. He was every where, on his route, received with great
respect and cordialit}'. His intention was to go as far as New Orleans,
and to return to the North by way of tht* Mississippi. Unfortunately he
was taken ill at Augusta, in Georgia, and was thus prevented from con-
tinuing his journey beyond that place.

RECEPTION AT CHARLESTON, S. C
Address delivered from the spacious Piazza of the Hotel, on the 1th of May, 1847.

Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, Chairman of the Committee of Recep-
tion, addressed Mr. Webster in a most eloquent and friendly manner,
and gave him a hearty welcome to the hospitalities of Charleston.

To this address Mr. Webster replied : —

Gentlemen, — It would be an act of as great violence to
my own feelings, as of injustice and ingratitude to the hos-
pitality of the citizens of Charleston, if I should fail to ex-
press my cordial thanks for the welcome you give me in
their behalf, and to reciprocate, to you and to them, my sin-
cere respect and good wishes.

You are quite right, Gentlemen, in supposing that my
purpose, in undertaking the tour which has brought me into
the midst of you, is to see the country, and the people of
the country, and to obtain a better and fuller knowledge of
both. Hitherto, I have not been a visitor so far south ; and
I was unwilling, quite unwilling, to be longer a stranger,
personally, in the Southern States. The citizens of Charles-
ton do me an honor, which I most deeply feel, when they
say, through you, that they have satisfaction in meeting me
at their own homes, and wish to render my visit agreeable.
When one is made welcome to the homes of Charleston, I
am quite aware that the warmth of hospitahty can go no
further.

Undoubtedly, Gentlemen, differences of opinion on many
subjects exist between your fellow-citizens and myself, and
between South Carolina and Massachusetts. But how poor
must be that spirit, a spirit which I am sure prevails neither
here nor in Massachusetts, which out of these differences
would extract cause of social alienation or personal disre-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 317

spect ! What would be the value of our political institu-
<:ions, if men might not differ on public questions, without
sacrificing mutual esteem or destroying the sense of com-
mon brotherhood 1 We have diverse political sentiments,
but we have but one country. We may differ as to the best
manner of serving and honoring that country, but we agree
that she is to be served by all to the utmost of their power,
and honored by all with filial reverence and patriotic devo-
tion. If we do not always think alike, we all feel alike.
We feel that much of the individual happiness, as well as
the national renown, which belongs to us now, or may be-
long to us hereafter, does and will attach to us as the undi-
vided, and I hope always the indivisible, members of the
great American repubhc.

I am happy, Gentlemen, if you think that, while dischar-
ging the duties of Secretary of State, I paid just regard to
the protection of Southern interests. In my judgment,
those interests, important in themselves, were connected
with grave questions of public law, questions touching the
immunity of flags, and the independence and equahty of
nations upon the ocean. To the magnitude of these ques-
tions I could not be insensible. It is true that they com-
manded my utmost attention ; and if the result has been
greater freedom from annoyance, more security for mari-
time rights, and a general advance in the maintenance of
peace and the friendly intercourse of nations, I am bound to
ascrjibe this result rather to the concurrence of fortunate cir-
cumstances, and to the encouragement and support of others,
than to any ability displayed in my efforts.

I concur with you cordially. Gentlemen, in the sentiment,
that mutual intercourse strengthens mutual regard; and that
the more citizens of different parts of the country see of
one another, the more will asperities be softened, and differ-
ences reconciled. 1 may undertake to say, for Massachu-
setts, that she is ready, at all times, to meet and to return
the respect and the hospitality of South Carolina ; and that
she remembers ancient ties of union and fraternity ; that
she acknowledges a common interest, and a common fate.

318 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

in a common country ; that there is nowhere a juster or a
higher appreciation of the men, or the deeds, of this her
sister State ; and nowhere the prevalence of more earnest
wishes for whatever may advance her prosperity and dis-
tinction.

Gentlemen, I come among you, with my family, as trav-
ellers, but not feeling that we are entirely strangers. I wish
to attract no ostentatious notice, but desire only to be re-
garded as a fellow-countryman and a fellow-citizen, and to
see the country and the people without formality or con-
straint.

Thanking you, and the citizens of Charleston, again, for
the cordial welcome extended to me, it remains that I offer
you. Gentlemen, personally, the assurance of my high re-
gard ; and to this concourse of your fellow-citizens, which
now surround us, and whose assembling together, on this
occasion, I regard as so respectful, and so imperatively de-
manding my grateful acknowledgments, I must tender my
sincere respects.

Citizens of Charleston ! I am happy to regard you as
countrymen. We are born to the same inheritance, won by
the same patriotism and the same valor. New England
blood has moistened the soil where we now stand, shed as
readily as at Lexington, or Concord, or Bunker Hill. May
it prove a durable cement of the union of our respective
States ! And may many generations, now far off, find them-
selves, when they arrive, as we now find ourselves, a free,
respectable, united, and prosperous community ! I pray you,
Gentlemen, accept my sincere good wishes for you all.

DINNER OF THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY.

Speech delivered on the 8th of May, 1847, in St. Andrew's Hall, Charleston, S. C.

A. S. WiLLiNGTON, Esq., presided.

After a toast from the chair in honor of Massachusetts and South
Carolina, Hon. B. F. Hunt, one of the Vice Presidents of the day,
made a most eloquent address, and concluded, —

" Mr. President and Gentlemen, I offer as a toast, —

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 319

" Our guest : He has a heart large enough to comprehend his whole
country — a head wise enough to discern her best interests; we cheer
him on his way to view her in all her various aspects, well assured that,
the more he sees of her, the better he will like her."

This address and sentiment having been received with loud and re-
peated cheers and applause, Mr. Webster rose and replied: —

Gentlemen, — I am bound to say a few words in ac-
knowledgment of the numerous kind things which have been
said by the gentleman who has just addressed you, and the
kind manner in which they have been received by the com-
pany. In answer to the testimonials of respect and the high
compliments so eloquently paid me by my New England
friend, I must be permitted to say, that it is a high source
of gratification to me to lind myself in the city of Charles-
ton, the long-renowned and hospitable city of the South,
among those whom I regard as fellow-countrymen, and who
look upon me in the same light. The marks of respect and
affection thus tendered have penetrated my heart with the
most grateful emotions. Colonel Hunt has been pleased,
with much propriety and eloquence, to refer to that great
instrument of government, the Constitution, and to speak
of it in terms habitual to, and expressive of the sentiment
of, all American bosoms. Wfiatever difi'erence of opinion
may exist with regard to some of its purposes, all agree
that it is the basis of our liberty, the cement of our Union,
and the source of our national prosperity and renown.
True, the cardinal principle of that instrument and the
interpretation of some of its provisions have, at times, led
to agitating discussions and dangerous excitements, but every
thing is now calm and repose, and

" All the clouds that lowered upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."

I take great pleasure. Sir, in marking the wise choice that
the sons of New England around me have made, in coming
to this State. I trust they were not very badly off at home,
but they appear to be exceedingly comfortable here. Since
"the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar" did not "bind
them to their native mountains more," they have not only

320 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

acted wisely in coming hither, but, if they must make a
change, I really think they could not have made a better.

Where on this continent is there a higher freedom of
social enjoyment, or a more ready extension of the relations
of private friendship and the courtesies of refined society,
than in this city and State ? Nor can I forbear a tribute to
the intelligence, enterprise, and hospitality of the citizens
of Charleston, where the exiled and the oppressed of the
earth, and the victims of rehgious persecution, the Huguenot
as well as the Puritan, have ever found a sanctuary and a
home ; whither, as the name of this hall instructs us,* the
enterprising North-British merchant resorts in the prosecu-
tion of business, and for convivial enjoyment ; and where
that other people, the hapless sons of Ireland, in our day
the subjects of so much suffering, and to whose relief the
whole of our land, both North and South, are now hasten-
ing with one heart and one purse, have also gathered as the
home of the oppressed.

My friend has been pleased, in speaking of my public
services, to refer to my influence over recent negotiations,
connected with the preservation of the peace of the earth.
Our true national policy is a policy of peace. I have not
felt, for many years, that it is at all necessary for us to
make further displays of prowess in arms in order to secure
us an enduring national renown. There is no danger that
we shall be underrated in the scale of nations, by any defect
in this particular. With these views, I have in my public
course directed my best efforts to promote the peace of the
world, deeming that policy best for the honor and prosper-
ity of our land, and in closest conformity to the benign pre-
cepts of Christianity and the humane spirit of modern civil-
ization.

In reference to this policy, 1 can bear testimony to the
able and honorable bearing of the distinguished sons of
South Carolina in the councils of the nation. On all the
great questions of peace ancT war, and other questions of
national interest, that have been discussed in the halls of

* St. Andrew's Hall.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 321

legislation, they have been arrayed on the side of the coun-
try, and a large debt of gratitude is their due.

It is natural on an occasion like this to reflect on the ad-
vantages to be derived from free intercourse between the
inhabitants of the various sections of the Union, and on the
importance of personal communication, to enable us to see
and know more of one another, convinced as I am, that, the
more we see and know of each other, the higher will be our
mutual appreciation, the greater will be our deference for
each other's judgments and opinions, and that, by cultivating
reciprocal feelings of kindness and courtesy, the stronger
will be our ties of fraternal peace and concord, the stronger
the great bond of union which holds us together as United
States. These considerations are especially applicable in
this era of developments so favorable to transportation and
conveyance, in which distance is so much less measured than
formerly by space than time.

Nobody, Sir, will expect a set speech from me at this
social board. I have had enough of such speeches else-
where. I feel that it would be entirely out of keeping with
the unceremonious character of the occasion to inflict on
the company a formal address. Enough has been already
said by me ; and it only remains for me to tender my most
earnest and cordial good wishes for the happiness and pros-
perity of the citizens of Charleston and the people of South
Carolina.

Mr. Webster concluded with the following toast : —

The people of South Carolina: Distinguished for their
hospitality and high social virtues, as much so as for the
great names which, at all times, they have given to the pub-
lic service of the country.

This toast was acknowledged by General Hamilton, who, after a very
interesting speech, concluded by offering : —

" The memory of Robert Y. Hayne : A champion worthy to have con-
tended with Daniel Webster, and to have borne on high the glorious ban-
ner of our State."

This toast was drank standing and in silence. On the company be-
ing again seated, Mr. Webster rose and said, — *

32*2 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The gentleman who has just taken his seat has anticipated
me in the tribute he has paid to the memory of his friend,
in what I intended to say in the course of the evening. I
cordially concur, from the bottom of my heart, in every
sentiment he has so eloquently and feelingly uttered. If it
was my fortune to be opposed to that gentleman in debate,
on an important national question, it only gave me a better
opportunity of recognizing his very eminent ability, which
was not even surpassed by his gentlemanly accomplishments.
I am happy in this assembly to have an opportunity of bear-
ing testimony to his elevated patriotism, his high honor, and
incorruptible integrity. No one out of the circle of his im-
mediate relatives and friends more sincerely sympathized in
the great public loss that his death occasioned. With this
appreciation, we can then well afford to offer another tribute
to his distinguished worth. I will give you

The memory of Robert Y. Hayne : A gentleman of cour-
teous and polished manners, of irreproachable life, a lawyer
of distinction and eminence, a statesman of ability and talent,
and a highly-favored son of his native State.

RECEPTION AT COLUMBIA, S. C.
Abridged from the Columbia, South Carolinian of the llth of May^ 1847.

Hon. Daniel Webster (accompanied by his family) visited our
town last week. He was received with such honors and hospitalities,
public and private, as is suitable to tender to one who fills so ejninent a
position in our Union. On arriving, he repaired to the mansion of his
friend the Hon. Wm. C. Preston, President of the South Carolina Col-
lege, (whose more especial guest he was,) and in the course of the even-
ing was greeted by several hundred ladies and gentlemen, who had been
invited to meet him.

The College buildings and grounds were brilliantly illuminated by the
students.

On Friday, at 2 o'clock, Mr. Webster repaired to Clark's Hotel, to re-
ceive such of our citizens as might be disposed to make acquaintance
with him. Here he was addressed, in behalf of the town authorities,
by W. F. De Saussure, Esq., to whom he replied in suitable terms.

The students of the College having held a meeting, and appointed a
committee to tender to Mr. Webster their respects and congratulations,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 323

at four o'clock he repaired to the chapel, where Mr. Earrow, of the
Senior Class, made to him the following exceedingly well-composed

address : —

"Honorable Sir, — Allow me, in the name of my fellow-students
of the South Carolina College, to present you the assurance of their sin-
cere pleasure at being honored with your presence on this occasion.
Conscious we are that our humble tribute can add but little either to
your pleasure or your fame. But taught from infancy to respect worth,
we could not be silent when we see in our midst one in whom are blended
the finished scholar, the able statesman, the pure patriot; one 'whose
fame can no more be hemmed in by State lines,' than the consecrated
histories of Boston, Bunker Hill, and Lexington. However warm may
be our gratitude to those who sustain our country's honor on the battle
field, we are not forgetful of those whose names are interwoven in the
history of the councils of state and the debates of senates. And whilst
we weave a willing wreath around the victor's brow, we equally offer the
homage of our hearts and our understandings to men illustrious as you
are, Sir, in civil life. Be assured, Sir, on our part, of a most hearty
welcome amongst us."

To which Mr. Webster replied : —

Young Gentlemen of the South Carolina Col-
lege, — I thank you for the manner in which you have been
pleased to receive me, and for the respect which you have
manifested. You are of the generation which is to come
after us, and your judgments are to form part of the opinion
of posterity, in respect to those who are now active in the
scenes of life. It will be happy for me, if the mature sen-
timents of your manhood shall correspond with those thus
expressed in your youth.

My young friends, I may well congratulate you on your
present condition, and your prospects. You are members
of a flourishing institution. You enjoy the teachings of a
learned faculty, with a name at its head beloved in private
life, highly distinguished in public life, and which confers
grace as well as usefulness on these academic groves. Pri-
vate and family affections cluster round you all ; a thousand
hopes are cherished for you ; all good auspices hover over
you. Every one of you may take to himself, in this respect,
the language of the poet, —

" Non sine Dis animosus infans."

324 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Let me, then, say to each of you, " Carpe diem." Art is
long and science is profound, and hterature, in our day, is
various and extensive. But you have youth, and health, and
the means of culture and improvement, and can accomplish
great objects. With you it is the bright and breezy morn
of life. A long day, 1 trust, is before you. Let me advise
you to be early in prosecuting the great work, which in that
day is to be done. Like the morning of the natural day,
let the morning of life begin with devotion to the Great
Giver of all good ; and let every succeeding hour of that
life be filled with acts of duty, and friendship, and private
and public beneficence. The evening of such life will be
full of hopes for a better ; and all will be cheered and con-
soled by

" that which should accompany old age,
As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends."

Young Gentlemen, all my good wishes attend you ! May
you here sow, with liberal broadcast, the seeds of a future
harvest of honor to yourselves, gratification to your friends,
and usefulness to your country !

RECEPTION AT SAVANNAH.

Speech delivered on the 26fA of May, 1847, in Monument Square, at Savammh, Oa.

Agreeably to previous arrangements, at eleven o'clock, the com-
mittee of thirteen waited upon Mr. Webster, at his lodgings, and escorted
him to the platform erected against the Greene and Pulaski monument,
in Monument Square. A large audience of both sexes was in attendance.

Mr. Justice Wayne addressed Mr. Webster in behalf of the people of
Savannah, and bade him welcome to the city, and as he said, '' We mean
it to be a hearty welcome."

Mr. Webster replied : —

Sir, — I beg you to believe me duly sensible of the re-
spect paid me by the citizens of Savannah. They have
appointed a committee to welcome me, composed of distin-
guished citizens, and placed at its head a gentleman well
known to myself personally and to the public, as filling with
equal honor to himself and the country the high station of

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 325

an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States.

The topics alkided to in the address just dehvered are of
great and permanent importance. At their liead stands tliat
of the Union of the States, and tlie Constitution. To such
parts of the address as are compUmentary to myself, 1 can
of .course, beyond the expression of my thanks, make no
reply. What most becomes me, certainly, in this respect, is
a grateful and respectful silence.

Allow me to say, that no more than justice is done me, in
ascribing to me a steady adhesion to the Union of the States,
upon the principles and according to the provisions of the
Constitution.

I have made this present tour, which has proved so de-
lightful to me while enjoying it, and which will leave so
many pleasant reminiscences to dwell upon after my return,
for the purpose of visiting those younger sisters of the family
of the Old Thirteen whom I had not before known. I
heartily rejoice that I have done so, for the reception which
has welcomed me has proved that we of the North and the
South are still brethren in feeling, and members of the same
great political family, bound together by the articles of agree-
ment in our glorious Constitution. He must be a presump-
tuous man indeed, who would venture to think that he could
suggest any new features of improvement or in any way im-
prove our present form of united government. By its pro-
visions and compromises I stand, as I have ever stood, and
woe to the meddling politicians who would assail them in
the hope of getting surer and safer guaranties for State
rights and State institutions. In itself it is already complete
and perfect ; any change could only result in marring the
harmony of its separate parts. The Constitution was the
result of concessions and compromises. Tt gave to the gen-
eral government certain specific rights and duties, and it left
to the States the free exercise of their own appropriate
rights, and the unrestricted enjoyment of their own laws and
the control of their own social institutions. It has stood the
test of experience, and proved itself capable, under a wise
administration, of carrying forward the prosperity of the

326 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

country. Our duty is to be content with the Constitution as
it is, to resist all changes from whatever quarter, to preserve
its original spirit and original purpose, and to commend it,
as it is, to the care of those who are to come after us.

You have alluded, Sir, to the spot where we stand, and
the monument which rises before us. It reminds us, indeed,
of the days of the Revolution, when State called upon State
for aid in the cause of independence. What citizen of Mas-
sachusetts can forget the noble response of Georgia to her
call ] Georgia was then far distant ; the wonder-working
agency of the telegraph, that annihilates space, was then un-
dreamed of, and long and weary miles of wilderness inter-
vened between the oldest and the youngest of the original
Thirteen. But the call was heard and answered. The
blood of New England, in her turn, was freely poured out
upon Southern soil, and her sons stood shoulder to shoulder
with those of Georgia in the common cause. Sons and
grandsons of those patriots, whom I now address ! Georgians !
shall we not cherish the recollection of those common suf-
ferings and common dangers, and make them the incentives
towards establishing a more perfect harmony between their
descendants ? Those whom the dangers and perils of war
could not sever, peace should not separate.

Others may value this union of confederated States as a
convenience, or an arrangement or a compromise of inter-
ests ; but I desire to see an attachment to the Union existing
among the people, not as a deduction of political economy,
nor as a result of philosophical reasoning, but cherished as
a heartfelt sentiment, I wish to see that attachment extended
from one extremity of this confederacy to the other, not by
telegraphic communications alone, but through tiie medium
of American sympathies acting upon the American heart.
Massachusetts, it is true, cannot vie with Georgia in fertility
of soil, abundance of resources, or the boundless facilities
of internal improvement, which will render her, at no distant
day, one of the mightiest of our confederated States. Seven
States like Massachusetts might be carved out of Georgia,
and yet abundant room be left for the formation of another
State. The natural products of Massachusetts (as a South

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 327

ern statesman once said) are granite and ice. Many of
these stately buildings that tower above me are, I doubt not,
indebted to Massachusetts for the granite upon which they
are.-reared. Your Hues of raih'oads, even now stretching
almost to the foot of your mountain ranges, beds of entire
granite, will soon deprive her of that privilege ; but our
hyperborean winters will long give us the monopoly of
the other article of export, and if we are not destined to be
your " hewers of wood and drawers of water," we shall at
least be your '■'■hewers of ice and coolers of water.''''

Never before was I so forcibly impressed with the mighty
influence of that great modern discovery, steam power, as
an engine of improvement, as when, during my journey
hither, I witnessed the passage of the long train of cars
through the dense and gloomy pine forests of your interior,
self-moved by an inner power which gave no visible signs of
its existence and left no trace behind it, cleaving those soli-
tudes as a bird cuts the air, but urged by a power that could
know no weariness and whose energies never flagged. It
was a most impressive lesson of the might of man in re-
moving natural impediments from his path of progressive
improvement.

Knowing, as I do, the rapid march of improvement in
your State, that you have already upwards of seven hurtdred
miles of railroad completed, and much more projected, 1
cannot but reflect upon the great destinies open to the peo-
ple of Georgia if they will but improve the opportunities
within their power.

This mighty agent, steam, is the handmaid of improve-
ments almost beyond contemplation. Each day develops
new blessings to be derived from it. It lessens labor, it
economizes time, it gives the poor man leisure and ability to
travel, it joins together the most remote regions, and brings
their inhabitants face to face, establishing a harmony of in-
terest and feeling between them. It limits ail distinctions-
The poor and the rich, the prince and the peasant, enjoy
now equal facihties of travel, and can procure the same
comforts and luxuries from distant points, and, when they
travel, they sit side by side in the same rail car. The in-

328 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

dividual is sinking, and the mass rising up in the majesty of
a common manhood. For a long time after the discovery
and use of this potent agent, it was thought only appUcabla
to navigation, and this prejudice retarded the march oCim
provements, which it might have expedited. For a long
series of years a communication between the vk^aters of the
Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, through the peninsula of
Florida, has been thought desirable ; but this prejudice pre-
vented it, as a canal was considered necessary for that pur-
pose. But railroads are now taking the place of canals, and
the completion of a south-western railroad from Savannah to
Pensacola is only needed to make those two cities respec-
tively the most prosperous in the South, uniting as it would
the best seaport on the Southern Atlantic coast, with almost
the only good harbor on the Mexican Gulf.

Five and twenty years ago, from my place in Congress, I
pressed this matter, but the times were not ripe for it then.
Now it may be and ought to be carried out, and I pledge to
this assembly all the aid and influence that I possess in car-
rying it into execution, as of infinite value to Georgia and
the entire Union.

With a graceful and impressive farewell to the audience who had hon-
ored him with their presence and approbation, Mr. Webster, amidst
tumultuous applause, concluded his eloquent address, of which our
meagre sketch is but the faint reflection.

FESTIVAL OF THE SONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

The Festival was holden on the 7th of November, 1849, in the large
hall of the Eitchburg Railway Company, in Boston. Mr. Webster
officiated as president of the day. About fifteen hundred persons took
part in the festival.

Mr. Webster addressed the meeting.

Residents of Boston and its vicinity, native born of New
Hampshire ! we meet here to-day in honor of our native
State, to commemorate and record our grateful affection for
her ; to acknowledge the obligation which we all feel for
her care and nurture in our early days. Coming into this,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 329

another State, we have not brought away with us all our
affections, or all our attachments.

We have invited to meet us many distinguished citizens
of New Hampshire. They have answered our invitation,
and have come in numbers. It may be considered properly
the duty of the place I occupy to bid them, one and all, wel-
come. Welcome, ye of New Hampshire origin, from every
part and quarter of our native State ! If you come from
the pleasant valleys of the Connecticut and Merrimack, wel-
come I Are you from the sea shore and the lakes of Straf-
ford 1 welcome ! Come ye from the Monadnock and the
sides of the Crystal Hills ? welcome ! welcome ! welcome !

Gentlemen, all the world admits that identity of local
origin is a tie of connection and sympathy, especially if it
be strengthened by early association, by the meeting with
one another in the school house, and in tlie society of early
life. In the morning of life, the heart op^ns all its sympa-
thies to those around it, and receives impressions which are
deep and lasting. We have migrated from one State to
another. Our migration lias not, indeed, been far. Nor
have we come among strangers ; nor have we had a new
tongue to learn, new principles to imbibe, new courses of life to
pursue ; but, nevertheless, we have changed our allegiance ;
we have changed our citizenship ; we have changed our social
relations. New Hampshire men once in all these respects,
we have ceased to be New Hampshire men now in every
thing but grateful remembrance and affection for the past.

To-day we meet, to resume, for the time, the feelings
which belong to us, as citizens of New Hampshire ; to
put on the New Hampshire character, and see how well it
may fit us here, in the metropolis of the State to which we
have come. Gentlemen, our lot is propitious ; singularly,
remarkably propitious. We are the native sons of one
State, we are the adopted children of another, and we
are proud of both. We desire not to forget whence we
came, and Heaven forbid that we should forget where we
are. We have met, I say, to commemorate our native
State. W^e value it according to its merits, which we be-
lieve high and honorable. We value it for what Nature has

330 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

conferred upon it, and for what its hardy sons have done for
themselves. We have not forgotten that its scenerj is
beautiful ; that its skies are all-healthful ; that its mountains
and lakes are surpassingly grand and sublime. If there be
any thing on this continent, the work of Nature, in hills,
and lakes, and seas, and woods, and forests, strongly at-
tracting the admiration of all those who love natural scenery,
it is to be found in our mountain State of New Hampshire.
It happened to me lately to visit the northern parts of
the State. It was autumn. The trees Of the forests, by the
discoloration of the leaves, presented one of the most beau-
tiful spectacles that the human eye can rest upon. But the
low and deep murmur of those forests, the fogs and mists,
rising and spreading, and clasping the breasts of the moun-
tains, whose heads were still high and bright in the skies, —
all these indicated that a wintry storm was on the wing ; that
the spirit of the mountains was stirred, and that ere long the
voice of tempests would speak. But even this was exciting ;
exciting to those of us who had been witnesses before of
such stern forebodings, and exciting in itself, as an exhibition
of the grandeur of natural scenery. For my part, I felt
the truth of that sentiment, applied elsewhere and on another

occasion, that

" the loud torrent and the whirlwind's roar
But bound me to my native mountains more."

Ours is not one of the richest of the States. It does not
compare with Massachusetts in its facilities of mercantile or
commercial occupation and enterprise. Its soil is sterile
and stubborn, but the resolution to subdue it is stubborn also.
Unrelenting rocks have yielded, and do yield, to unrelenting
labor ; and there are productiveness, and health, and plenty,
and comfort, over all her hills and among all her valleys.
Manly strength, the nerved arm of freemen, each one tilling
his own land, and standing on his own soil, enjoying what
he earns, and ready to defend it, — these have made all
comfortable and happy.

Nor need we be ashamed of her literary, her religious, or
her social institutions. I have seen, and others of my age
have seen, the church and the school house rise and stand

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 331

in the very centre of the forest, and seen them resetted to
in the midst of winter snows. And where these things he
at the foundation and commencement of society, where the
worship of God, the observance of morals, and the cnUure
of the human mind, are springs of action with those who
take hold of the original forest, to subdue it by strong arms
and strong muscles, there, depend upon it, the people never
fail.

Every where, every where, on her hills and rivers, are
there school houses. The school house ; who shall speak
of that throughout New England as it ought to be spoken
of? Who shall speak, in proper language, of the wisdom,
and foresight, and benevolence, and sagacity of our fore-
fathers, in establishing a general system of public instruc-
tion as a great public police for the benefit of the whole, as
a business in which all are interested 1 The world had
previously seen nothing like it, although some parts of the
world have since copied from it. But where, when you
talk of fostering governments, of guardian governments, of
governments which render to subjects that protection which
the allegiance of subjects demands, — where is it, I ask,
that, as here with us, it has come to be a great and funda-
mental proposition, existing before constitutions, that it is
the duty, the bounden duty, of governments composed by
the representation of all, to lay the foundation of the happi-
ness and respectability of society in universal education ?
If you can tell me such a country out of New England, I
would be glad to hear of it. I know of none, I have read
of none.

Gentlemen, the inhabitants of our New Hampshire moun-
tains were, it must be confessed, from the first, rather in-
clined to the indulgence of a military spirit. I believe that
this is common to mountainous regions in most parts of the
world. Scotland and Switzerland show the example of
hardy, strong men in mountainous regions, attached to war
and to the chase ; and it is not unfortunate in our New
Hampshire history, that this sentiment, to a considerable
degree, prevailed. The position of the country and the
state of the people called for its exercise. We know tha

332 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

New Hampshire was settled, in all its frontier towns, under
circumstances of the most dangerous and difficult nature
and character. It was a border State. It bordered on the
Indians and on the French ; names and nations always
coupled together in the language of our fathers as common
enemies to them. This exposed the frontier men, of New
Hampshire especially, to perpetual war ; to perpetual danger
at least of war, and its frequent occurrence. People forget ;
they forget how lately it is, that the interior, the border
country of New Hampshire, was settled and reclaimed, and
made safe from Indian depredation. All the world reads
that New England is the oldest part of the United States, or
one of the oldest. It has been looked upon as the longest
settled. But, in regard to the frontiers of our native State,
the settlement has been recent. Even up to the time of the
birth of some of us now living, there was some degree of
danger from Indian depredations and Indian wars; liability
to Indian assaults, murders, and burnings.

Whole generations, at least one entire generation, tilled
the land and raised their bread with their arms in their
hands, or in the fields with them at their labor. We do not
now appreciate the difficulty of those frontier settlements,
because subsequent prosperity and security have obliterated
the recollection.

As one example out of many, I might refer to General
John Stark, well known for his military achievements in all
the wars of his time ; a hunter in peace, a soldier in war ;
and as a soldier, always among the foremost and the bravest.
And since he is brought to my remembrance, let me dwell
upon the recollection for a moment.

General Stark was my neighbor, the neighbor and friend
of my father. One in a highly important, the other in a
less distinguished situation, they had seen military service
together, and had met the enemy in the same field. It was
in the decline of Stark's life, comparatively speaking, that
the Revolutionary war broke out. He entered into it, how-
ever, with all the manliness and all the fervor of his youth-
ful character. Yet, in his advanced age, like other old
men, he tuined back fondly to earlier scenes ; and when he

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTEIf. 333

spoke of the " war," he always meant the old French and
Indian war. His remembrances were of Canada ; of the
exploits at Crown Point, and Ticonderoga, and Lake George.
He seemed to think of the Revolution as only a family
quarrel, in which, nevertheless, he took a warm and decided
part ; but he preferred to talk of the " war " in which he
was taken by the Indians, as he was more than once, I think,
and carried to Canada. The last time I saw him, he was
seated around a social fire with his neighbors. As I entered,
he greeted me, as he always did, with affection ; and I be-
lieve he complimented me on my complexion, which he said
was like my father's ; and his was such, he said, that no one
could tell whether he was covered with powder or not.
The conversation turned, like other conversations among
country neighbors, upon this man's condition and that man's
condition ; the property of one, and the property of another,
and how much each was worth. At last, rousing himself
from an apparent slumber, he said, " Well, I never knew
but once what I was worth. In the war, the Indians took
me, and carried me to Canada, and sold me to the French
for forty pounds ; and, as they say a thing is worth what it
will fetch, I suppose I was worth forty pounds."

These are the scenes, ye native born, this is the history,
ye sons of New Hampshire, of the times and the events that
brought forth the gallant spirits of our native State into the
midst of a still more important and more serious conflict,
which began here in 1775. New Hampshire was then full
of soldiers ; indeed, I may say that the whole of New Eng-
land was full of soldiers, when the Revolutionary war broke
out. New Hampshire, especially, had hardly any body in it
that had not been accustomed to bear arms in the previous
war. As proof of the soldierlike character of our New
England yeomanry, I may mention a fact which should no?
be forgotten ; that, of all the soldiers, regular and militia,
which served in the war of independence, Massachusetts
and New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island, —
these four little States, which, as you look upon a map of
the United States, you can cover with your hand, — these
States furnished more than one half of all the men that

S34 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

achieved our independence. It appears from official and sta-
tistical records, that during the war, in the regular service,
and in the militia service, from three hundred and seventeen
to three hundred and twenty thousand men were employed
in our armies. Of these, New England alone furnished
more than half.

Then came the war of the Revolution ; it broke out here
in the State of Massachusetts. Where was New Hampshire
then ? Was she alienated from the cause, or from her
sister State 1 No. Neither then, nor at any time in the
succeeding contest, was her soil subject to the tread of a
hostile foot. Whether they thought it not worth entering,
or whether they did not choose to encounter the dwellers in
her mountains, I do not care to decide. The truth is, no
enemy trod on the soil of New Hampshire. But when the
strife began, when the beacon fires were lighted here, when
the march from Boston to Lexington and Concord had
spread the flames of liberty, who answered to the call ?
Did New Hampshire need to be summoned to Bunker Hill?
She came at the first blaze of the beacon fires. None were
earlier, none more ready, none more valiant.

I think it is Madame de Stael who says, that " from the
mountains of the North there comes nothing but fire and
the sword." And on this occasion there did indeed come
from our native mountains both fire and the sword ; not the
fire of devastation and desolation, not the sword of ruthless
plunder and massacre, but the fire of Liberty and the
sword of Patriotism. And how ardently the one burned,
and how vigorously the other was wielded till the return of
peace enabled the country to sheathe it and be at rest, let
the whole history of that country tell.

Gentlemen, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown, there was
not a battle in which New Hampshire blood was not shed.
I may go further yet ; and I may say that there is, proba-
bly, of the many hundreds now in this very hall, a repre-
sentative of some New Hampshire ofiicer or soldier who
fell in every field, and left his bones where he fought his
battle. The blood, the blood of New Hampshire men, fall-
ing every where, and in every year of the war, in defence

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 335

of the liberty of the country, is here to-night. I hope it is
worthy of its descent, and that it will transmit itself unde-
filed to ages, and ages yet to come.

Those who returned to New Hampshire from that seven
years' contest have their graves on the mountain sides and
along the valleys of their native land ; and those graves are
ever objects of public regard and private affection.

" How sleep the brave, who sink to rest,
By all their country's wishes blest !
* * * * *

And Freedom shall a while repair,
And dwell, a weeping hermit, there."

They are ever pointed out to the passing traveller as the last
resting-place of the patriotic and the brave ; and they con-
tinue to be watered with the tears of a grateful posterity.
But, alas ! all did not return. McCleary, the earhest, or one
of the earliest, of the New Hampshire victims of the Revolu-
tionary struggle, fell in Charlestown. His blood is mixed
with the earth upon which yonder monument stands, raising
its head to the skies, and challenging tlie respect and admi-
ration of the world, for the spot where a military achieve-
ment was performed, which, in its results, in the long career
of its consequences, in the great course of events which fol-
lowed it, and their effects upon human happiness and human
liberty, has no parallel in the history of mankind.

In regard to the military character of her Revolutionary
heroes, and her early statesmen, and in regard to every thing
which was done, or ought to have been done, or was ex-
pected to be done, to bring New Hampshire honorably and
respectably into the great circle of our Union, Gentlemen, I
leave all this for abler tongues, fresher recollections, and
more persuasive accents. I sit down myself, filled with pro-
found veneration for the character of my native State, and
acknowledging to her my own personal debt for her culture
and nurture, and determined, so far as in me lies, to transmit
the sense of that obligation to those who shall come after me.

After many other gentlemen had addressed the company, Mr. Web •
star again rose, and spoke as follows : —

336 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

The regular toasts have now been gone through. I have
occupied this chair as long as it seems to be convenient, and,
with a few parting words, I propose to resign it to another.

Gentlemen, departing from the character of particular
States, leaving for the present the agreeable thoughts that
have entertained us, of our own homes and our own origin,
it appears to me, before we part, that it is not improper that
we should call to our attention the marked character of
the age in which we live, and the great part that, in the dis-
pensations of Divine Providence, we are called upon to act
ill it.

To act our part well, as American citizens, as members
of this great republic, we must understand that part, and
the duties which it devolves upon us. We cannot expect to
blunder into propriety, or into greatness of action. We
must learn the character of the age in which we live, we
must learn our own place as a great and leading nation in
that age, we must learn to appreciate justly our own posi-
tion and character, as belonging to a government of a par-
ticular form, and we must act, in every case, and upon all
subjects, as becomes our relations.

Now, Gentlemen, I venture to say, here and every where,
in the face of the world, that there is not on earth any
country, at the present moment, so interesting as the United
States. I do not say, no country so strong, so rich, so
beautiful, so high or commanding ; but I say, no country so
interesting, no country that sets such an example before the
world of self-government, no country around which so many
hopes and so many fears cluster, no country in regard to
which the world with so much earnestness inquires, " What
will she come to ? "

I need not say that we are at the head of this continent.
W^ho denies that 1 W^ho doubts it 1 Here are more than
twenty millions of people, free, commercial, and enterpris-
ing, beyond example. They are spread over an immense
territory, and that territory has been lately increased by a
vast and an extraordinary addition. The country stretches
from sea to sea, across the whole breadth of North America,
and from the tropics to the great lakes and rivers of the
North.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 337

Forty or fifty years ago, an American poet said to his
countrymen, —

" No pent-up Utica contracts our powers,
For the whole boundless continent is ours."

This was poetic ; but the poetry has been advancing, and is
still advancing, more and more, to sober truth and reaUty.

But this is not all, nor is it the most important point. We
are brought by steam, and the improvements attendant upon
its discovery, into the immediate neighborhood of the great
powers of Europe, living under different forms of govern-
ment ; forms in which the aristoci'atic, or the despotic, or
the monarchical element prevails. The United States, the
second commercial country in the world, whose intercourse
affects every other country, have entered the circle, and are
become the immediate neighbors of them all. And what is
expected to be the consequence of this proximity, this conti-
guity, this bringing the republican practice into the imme-
diate presence of despotism, monarchy, and aristocracy ?
This is the philosophical view which attracts the attention
of the observant part of mankind most strongly, and strikes
us with the greatest power. What is to be the result ?

Gentlemen, between us and the governments of Europe
there is no political connection. They have their systems,
and we have ours ; but then their interests and ours ap-
proach, and sometimes coincide. Commercial interests are
mingling together all over the civilized world. The infor-
mation of mankind is becoming common to all nations, and
the general tone of sentiment common, in learned circles,
and among the masses of intelligent men. In matters of
science, taste, commerce, in questions of right and justice,
and matters of judicial administration, we think very much
alike. But in regard to the origin of government, the form
of government, and, in some cases, the end and objects of
government, we differ. And yet it is certain that, of all
human institutions, government is the chief, and by far the
most important ; and as the press, at least to a very great
extent, in modern times, is free, government, its origin, its
forms, its duties, its ends and objects, and its practical
22

338 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

administration, are every where a constant subject of discus-
sion. Now that steam has created such a daily intercourse,
and brought countries so much nearer together, men of one
nation seem to talk to those of another, on political subjects,
as on other subjects, almost like inhabitants of the same city,
or the same county. This is a condition of things novel
and interesting, and worthy of our reflection. In national
relations, we sustain a rank, we hold a certain place, and we
have high duties to perform. Of coui'se it is our duty to
abstain from all interference in the political affairs of other
countries. But then there is one thing which we are bound
to do. We are bound to shovi^ to the whole world, in the
midst of which we are placed, that a regular, steady, con-
servative government, founded on broad, popular, represen-
tative systems, is a practicable thing. We are bound to
show, that there may be such a government, not merely for
a small, but for a great country, in which life and property
shall be secure, religion and the vt'orship of the Deity ob-
served, good morals cultivated, commerce and the arts en-
couraged, and the general prosperity of all classes maintained
and advanced.

It strikes me, and I repeat the sentiment only to show the
strength of my own conviction, that our great destiny on
earth is to exhibit the practicability of good, safe, secure,
popular governments ; to prove, and I hope we do prove,
that 'there may be security for property, and for personal
rights, that there may be provision for the maintenance of
religion and morals, for an extensive diffusion of knowledge,
and for carrying all branches of education and culture to
their highest pitch, by means of institutions founded on re-
publican principles. The prophecies and the poets are with
us. Every body knows Bishop Berkeley's lines, written a
hundred years ago : —

" There shall be sung another golden age,
The rise of empire and of arts ;
The good and great inspiring epic rage,
The wisest heads and noblest hearts.

" Westward the course of empire takes its way ;
The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day :
Time's noblest •offspring is the last."

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 339

And at a more recent period, bat still when there was noth-
ing to be seen in this vast North American continent but a
few coh)mal settlements, another English poet suggests to liis
country, that she shall see a great nation, her own offspring,
springing up, with wealth, and power, and glory, in the New
World : —

" In other lands, another Britain see ;
And what thou art, America shall be."

But, in regard to this country, there is no poetry like the
poetry of events ; and all tlie prophecies lag behind their
fulfilment.

That is the doctrine which you, and T, of America, are
bound to teach. Does any body doubt that, on this broad,
popular platform, there exists now, in these United States, a
safe government 1 Tell me where there is one safer. Or
tell me of any on the face of the Old World on which pub-
lic faith is more confidently reposed. I say the government
of the United vStates is one of the safest. I do not know
hovk^ long it may be before it will become one of the oldest
governments in the world.

We are in an age of progress. That progress is towards
self-government by the enlightened portion of the commu-
nity, every where. And the great question is, how this im-
pulse can be carried on, without running to excess; how
popular government can be established, without falling into
licentiousness. That is the great question, and we have seen
how difficult it is, by those not taught in the school of expe-,
rience, to establish such a system.

It is a common sentiment uttered by those who would
revolutionize Europe, that, to be free, men have only to will
it. That is a fallacy. There must be prudence and a bal-
ancing of departments, and there must be persons who will
teach the science of free, popular governments ; and there
are but few, except in this country, who can teach that
science. We have arrived at this ability by an experience
of two hundred years. And how has it come 1 Why, we
are an offshoot of the British constitution. In that consti-
tution there is a popular element, that is, a representation of

340 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the people. This element is there mixed up with the mo«
narchical and the aristocratic elements. But our ancestors
brought with them no aristocracy, and no monarchical rule,
except a general submission and allegiance to the crown of
England. Their immediate government was altogether a
popular representation ; and the country has been thoroughly
trained, and schooled, in the practice of such a gov^ernment.

To abide by the voice of the representatives fairly chosen,
by the edicts of those who make the legislative enactments,
has been and ip our only system. From the first settlement
of the colony at Plymouth, through all our subsequent his-
tory, we have adhered to this principle. We threw off the
power of the king, and we never admitted the power of the
Parliament. That was the doctrine of Adams and Jeffer-
son. That was the reason why the Parliament was not al-
luded to in the Declaration of Independence. The Colonies
acknowledged the power of the crown, but never having
acknowledged the authority of the Parliament, they dis-
dained to give any reason for throwing it off.

When the Revolution severed us from the mother country,
we had nothing to do but to go on with our elections, sup-
plying the governors no longer appointed by the crown by
our own election, thus making the whole government popular,
and to proceed as at first. It was in this way that the Colo-
nies of Connecticut and Rhode Island were enabled, down
to a very late period, to continue their ancient constitutions.

If you look any where, beside at France, on the conti-
nent of Europe, can you find any thing that bears the aspect
of a representative government 1 There is nothing. It is
very difficult to establish a free conservative government for
the equal advancement of all the interests of society. What
has Germany done, learned Germany, fuller of ancient lore
than all the world beside 1 What has Italy done, what have
they done who dwell on the spot where Cicero and Cato
lived 1 They have not the power of self-government which
a common town meeting with us possesses.

Yes, I say that those persons who have gone from our
town meetings to dig gold in California, are more fit to
make a republican government than any body of men in

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 341

Germany or Italy, because they have learned this one great
lesson, that there is no security without law, and that, under
the circumstances in which they are placed, where there is
no military authority to overawe them, there is no sovereij^n
will but the will of the majority; that therefore, if they re-
main, they must submit to that will.

It is the prevalence of this general sentiment of obedi-
ence to law, — that they must have representatives, and that,
if they be fairly chosen, their edicts must stand for law, — it
is the general diffusion of this opinion that enables our peo-
ple every where to govern themselves. Where they have
our habits, you will find that tliey will establish government
upon the foundation of a free, popular constitution, and
nothing else.

Now I think. Gentlemen, that while we prescribe no
forms, while we dictate to nobody, our mission is to show
that a constitutional, representative, conservative govern-
ment, founded on the freest possible principles, can do, can
do, for the advancement of general morals and the general
prosperity, as much as any other government can do.

THE CONSTITUTION AND THE UNION.

Speech delivered in the Senate of the United States, on the 7th of March, 1850.

On the 25th of January, 1850, Mr. Clay submitted a series of resolu-
tions to the Senate, on the subject of slavery, in connection with the
various questions which had arisen in consequence of the acquisition of
Mexican territory. On Wednesday, the 6th of March, Mr. Walker, of
Wisconsin, engaged in the discussion, but was unable to finish his argu-
ment. In the mean time, it had been generally understood that Mr.
Webster would, at an early day, take an opportunity of addressing the
Senate on the present aspect of the slavery question, on the dangers to
the Union of the existing agitation, and on the terms of honorable ad-
justment. On Thursday, the 7th of March, at 12 o'clock, the special
order of the day was announced, and the Vice President stated that Mr.
Walker, of Wisconsin, was entitled to the floor. That gentleman, how-
ever, rose and said, —

" Mr. President, this vast audience has not come together to hear me,
and there is but one man, in my opinion, who can assemble such an
audience. They expect to hear him, and I feel it to be my duty, there-

342 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

fore, as it is my pleasure, to give the floor to the Senator from Massa-
chusetts. I understand it is immaterial to him upon which of these
questions he speaks, and, therefore, I will not move to postpone the
special order."

Mr. Webster then rose, and, after making his acknowledgments to the
Senators from Wisconsin, (Mr. Walker,) and New York, (Mr. Seward,)
for their courtesy in yielding the floor to him, addressed the Senate.

Mr. President, — I wish to speak to-day, not as a Mas-
sachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an Ameri-
can, and a member of the Senate of the United States. It
is fortunate that there is a Senate of the United States ; a
body not yet moved from its propriety, not lost to a just
sense of its own dignity and its own high responsibilities,
and a body to which the country looks, with confidence, for
wise, moderate, patriotic, and healing counsels. It is not to
be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations, and
are surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institu-
tions and government. The imprisoned winds are let loose.
The East, the North, and the stormy South combine to
throw the whole sea into commotion, to toss its billows to
the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. I do not
affect to regard myself, Mr. President, as holding, or as fit
to hold, the helm in this combat with the political elements ;
but I have a duty to perform, and I mean to perform it with
fidelity, not without a sense of existing dangers, but not
without hope. I have a part to act, not for my own secu-
rity or safety, for I am looking out for no fragment upon
which to float away from the wreck, if wreck there must
be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation of
all ; and there is that which will keep me to my duty dur-
ing this struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear,
or shall not appear for many days. I speak to-day for the
preservation of the Union. " Hear me for my cause." I
speak to-day, out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the
restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony
wliich make the blessings of this Uniop so rich, and so dear
to us all. These are the topics that I propose to myself to
discuss ; these are the motives, and the sole motives, that
iniluence me in the wish to communicate my opinions to the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 343

Senate and the country ; and if I can do any thing, how-
ever little, for the promotion of these ends, I shall have ac-
complished all that I expect.

Mr. President, it may not be amiss to recur very briefly
to the events which, equally sudden and extraordinary, have
brought the country into its present political condition. In
May, 1846, the United States declared war against Mexico.
Our armies, then on the frontiers, entered the provinces of
that republic, met and defeated all her troops, penetrated
her mountain passes, and occupied her capital. The marine
force of the United States took possession of her forts and
her towns, on the Atlantic and on the Pacific. In less than
two years a treaty was negotiated, by which Mexico ceded
to the United States a vast territory, extending seyen or
eight hundred miles along the shores of the Pacific, and
reaching back over the mountains, and across the desert,
until it joins the frontier of the State of Texas. It so hap-
pened, in the distracted and feeble condition of the Mexican
government, that, before the declaration of war by the
United States against Mexico had become known in Cali-
fornia, the people of California, under the lead of Ameri-
can officers, overthrew the existing Mexican provincial gov-
ernment, and raised an independent flag. When the news
arrived at San Francisco that war had been declared by the
United States against Mexico, this independent flag was
pulled down, and the stars and stripes of this Union hoisted
in its stead. So, Sir, before the war was over, the forces
of the United States, miHtary and naval, had possession of
San Francisco and Upper California, and a great rush of
emigrants from various parts of the world took place into
California in 1846 and 1847. But now behold another
wonder.

In January of 1848, a party of Mormons made a dis-
covery of an extraordinarily rich mine of gold, or rather of
a great quantity of gold, hardly proper to be called a mine,
for it was spread near the surface, on the lower part of the
south, or American, branch of the Sacramento. They at-
tempted to conceal their discovery for some time ; but soon
another discovery of gold, perhaps of greater importance,

344 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

was made, on another part of the American branch of the
Sacramento, and near Sutter's Fort, as it is called. The
fame of these discoveries spread far and wide. Thej in-
flamed more and more the spirit of emigration towards Cal-
ifornia, which had already been excited, and adventurers
crowded into the country by hundreds, and flocked towards
the Bay of San Francisco. This, as I have said, took
place in the winter and spring of 1848. The digging com-
menced in the spring of that year, and from that time to
this the work of searching for gold has been prosecuted
with a success not heretofore known in the history of this
globe. You recollect. Sir, how incredulous at first the
American public was at the accounts which reached us of
these discoveries ; but we all know, now, that these ac-
counts received, and continue to receive, daily confirmation,
and down to the present moment I suppose the assurance is
as strong, after the experience of these several months, of
the existence of deposits of gold apparently inexhaustible
in the regions near San Francisco, in California, as it was
at any period of the earlier dates of the accounts.

It so happened. Sir, that although, after the return of
peace, it became a very important subject for legislative
consideration and legislative decision to provide a proper
territorial government for California, yet differences of opin-
ion between the two houses of Congress prevented the
establishment of any such territorial government at the last
session. Under this state of things, the inhabitants of Cali-
fornia, already amounting to a considerable number, thought
it to be their duty, in the summer of last year, to establish
a local government. Under the proclamation of General
Riley, the people chose delegates to a convention, and that
convention met at Monterey. It formed a constitution for
the State of California, which, being referred to the people,
was adopted by them in their primary assemblages. Desi-
rous of immediate connection with the United States, its
Senators were appointed and Representatives chosen, who
have come hither, bringing with them the authentic consti-
tution of the vState of California ; and they now present
themselves, Asking, in behalf of their constituents, that it

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTFR. 345

may be admitted into this Union as one of the United States.
This constitution, Sir, contains an express prohibition of
slavery, or involuntary servitude, in the State of Cahfornia.
It is said, and I suppose truly, that, of the members who
composed that convention, some sixteen were natives of, and
had been residents in, the slaveholding States, about twenty-
two were from the non-slaveholding States, and the re-
maining ten members were either native Californians or old
settlers in that country. This prohibition of slavery, it is
said, was inserted with entire Unanimity.

It is this circumstance, Sir, the prohibition of slavery,
which has contributed to raise, I do not say it has wholly
raised, the dispute as to the propriety of the admission of
California into the Union under this constitution. It is not
to be denied, Mr. President, nobody thinks of denying, that,
whatever reasons were assigned at the commencement of
the late war with Mexico, it was prosecuted for the purpose
of the acquisition of territory, and under the alleged argu-
ment that the cession of territory was the only form in
which proper compensation could be obtained by the United
States from Mexico, for the various claims and demands
which the people of this country had against that govern-
ment. At any rate, it will be found that President Polk's
message, at the commencement of the session of December,
1847, avowed that the war was to be prosecuted until some
acquisition of territory should be made. As the acquisition
was to be south of the line of the United States, in warm
climates and countries, it was naturally, I suppose, expected
by the South, that whatever acquisitions were made in that
region would be added to the slaveholding portion of the
United States. Very little of accurate information was pos-
sessed of the real physical character, either of California
or New Mexico, and events have not turned out as was
expected. Both California and New Mexico are likely
to come in as free States; and therefore some degree
of disappointment and surprise has resulted. In other
words, it is obvious that the question which has so long
harassed the country, and at some times very seriously
alarmed the minds of wise and good men, has come upon

346 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

US for a fresh discussion ; the question of slavery in these
United States.

Now, Sir, upon the general nature and influence of sla-
very there exists a wide difference of opinion between the
northern portion of this country and the southern. It is
said on the one side, that, although not the subject of any
injunction or direct prohibition in the New Testament, sla-
very is a wrong ; that it is founded merely in the right of the
strongest ; and that it is an oppression, like unjust wars, like
all those conflicts by which a powerful nation subjects a
weaker to its will ; and that, in its nature, whatever may be
said of it in the modifications which have taken place, it is
not according to the meek spirit of the Gospel. It is not
" kindly aff*ectioned ; " it does not " seek another's, and not
its own ; " it does not " let the oppressed go free." These
are sentiments that are cherished, and of late with greatly
augmented force, among the people of the Northern States.
They have taken hold of the religious sentiment of that
part of the country, as they have, more or less, taken hold
of the religious feelings of a considerable , portion of man-
kind. The South, upon the other side, having been accus-
tomed to this relation between the two races all their lives,
from their birth, having been taught, in general, to treat the
subjects of this bondage with care and kindness, and I be-
lieve, in general, feeling great kindness for them, have not
taken the view of the subject which I have mentionen.
There are thousands of religious men, with consciences as
tender as any of their brethren at the North, who do not see
the unlawfulness of slavery ; and there are more thousands,
perhaps, that, whatsoever they may think of it in its origin,
and as a matter depending upon natural right, yet take
things as they are, and, finding slavery to be an established
relation of the society in which they live, can see no way in
which, let their opinions on the abstract question be what
they may, it is in the power of the present generation to re-
lieve themselves from this relation. And candor obliges me
to say, that I believe they are just as conscientious, many of
them, and the religious people, all of them, as they are at
the North who hold different opinions.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 347

But we must view tilings as they arcj. Slavery does exist
in the United States. It did exist in the States before the
adoption of this Constitution, and at that time. Let us,
therefore, consider for a moment what was the state of sen-
timent, North and South, in regard to slavery, at the time
this Constitution was adopted. A remarkable change has
taken place since ; but what did the wise and great men of
all parts of the country think of slavery then ? In what
estimation did they hold it at the time when this Constitution
was adopted 1 It will be found. Sir, if we will carry oui-
selves by historical research back to that day, and ascertain
men's opinions by authentic records still existing among us,
that there was then no diversity of opinion between the
North and the South upon the subject of slavery. It will
be found that both parts of the country held it equally an
evil, a moral and political evil. It will not be found that,
either at the North or at the South, there was much, tliough
there was some, invective against slavery as inhuman and
cruel. The great ground of objection to it was political ;
that it weakened the social fabric ; that, taking the place of
free labor, society became less strong and labor less pro-
ductive ; and therefore we find from all the eminent men
of the time the clearest expression of their opinion that
slavery is an evil. They ascribed its existence here, not
without truth, and not without some acerbity of temper and
force of language, to the injurious policy of the mother
country, who, to favor the navigator, had entailed these evils
upon the Colonies. I need hardly refer. Sir, particularly to
the publications of the day. They are matters of history
on the record. The eminent men, the most eminent men,,
and nearly all the conspicuous politicians of the South,
held the same sentiments; that slavery was an evil, a blight,
a scourge, and a curse. There are no terms of reprobation
of slavery so vehement in the North at that day as in the
South. The North was not so much excited against it as
the South ; and the reason is, I suppose, that there was
much less of it at the North, and the people did not see, or
think they saw, the evils so prominently as they were seen,
or thought to be seen, at the South.

348 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Then, Sir, when this Constitution was framed, this was
the light in which the Federal Convention viewed it. That
body reflected the judgment and sentiments of the great
men of the South. A member of the other house, whom I
have not the honor to know, has, in a recent speech, col-
lected extracts from these public documents. They prove
the truth of what I am saying, and the question then was,
how to deal with it, and how to deal with it as an evil.
They came to this general result. They thought that sla-
very could not be continued in the country if the importation
of slaves were made to cease, and therefore they provided
that, after a certain period, the importation might be pre-
vented by the act of the new government. The period of
tvrenty years was proposed by some gentleman from the
North, I think, and many members of the Convention from
the South opposed it as being too long. Mr. Madiso-n espe-
cially was somewhat warm against it.. He said it would bring
too much of this mischief into the country to allow the im-
portation of slaves for such a period. Because we must
take along with us, in the whole of this discussion, when we
are considering the sentiments and opinions in which the
constitutional provision originated, that the conviction of all
men was, that, if the importation of slaves ceased, the white
race would multiply faster than the black race, and that
slavery would therefore gradually wear out and expire. It
may not be improper here to allude to that, I had almost
said, celebrated opinion of Mr. Madison. You observe.
Sir, that the term slave, or slavery, is not used in the Con-
stitution. The Constitution does not require that " fugitive
slaves " shall be delivered up. It requires that persons held
to service in one State, and escaping into another, shall be
delivered up. Mr. Madison opposed the introduction of the
term slave, or slavery, into the Constitution ; for he said that
he did not wish to see it recognized by the Constitution of
the United States of America that there could be property
in men.

Now, Sir, all this took place in the Convention in 1787 ;
but connected with this, concurrent and contemporaneous, is
another important transaction, not sufficiently attended to»

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 349

The Convention for framing this Constitution assembled in
Philadelphia in May, and sat until September, 1787. Dur-
insT all that time the Cono;ress of the United States was in
session at New York. It was a matter of design, as we
know, that the Convention should not assemble in the same
city where Congress was holding its sessions. Almost all
the public men of the country, therefore, of distinction and
eminence, were in one or the other of these two assemblies ;
and I think it happened, in some instances, that the same
gentlemen were members of both bodies. If I mistake not,
such was the case with Mr. Rufus King, then a member of
Congress from Massachusetts. Now, at the very time when
the Convention in Philadelphia was framing this Constitu-
tion, the Congress in New York was framing the Ordinance
of 1787, for the organization and government of the terri-
tory north-west of the Ohio. They passed that Ordinance
on the 13th of July, 1787, at New York, the very month,
perhaps the very day, on which these questions about the
importation of slaves and the character of slavery were de-
bated in the Convention at Philadelphia. So far as we can
now learn, there was n perfect concurrence of opinion be-
tween these two bodies ; and it resulted in this Ordinance
of 1787, excluding slavery from all the territory over which
the Congress of the United States had jurisdiction, and that
was all the territory north-west of the Ohio. Three years
before, Virginia and other States had made a cession of that
great territory to the United States; and a most munificent
act it was. I never reflect upon it without a disposition to
do honor and justice, and justice would be the highest honor,
to Virginia, for the cession of her north-western territory. I
will say. Sir, it is one of her fairest claims to the respect
and gratitude of the country, and that, perhaps, it is only
second to that other claim which belongs to her ; that from
her counsels, and from the intelligence and patriotism of her
leading statesmen, proceeded the first idea put into practice
of the formation of a general constitution of the United
States. The Ordinance of 1787 applied to the whole terri-
tory over which the Congress of the United States had juris-
diction. It was adopted two years before the Constitution

350 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of the United States went into operation ; because the
Ordinance took effect immediately on its passage, while the
Constitution of the United States, having been framed, was
to be sent to the States to be adopted by their Conventions ;
and then a government was to be organized under it. This
Ordinance, then, was in operation and force when the Con-
stitution was adopted, and the government put in motion, in
April, 1789.

This was the state of things. Sir, and this the state of
opinion, under which those very important matters were ar-
ranged, and those three important things done ; that is, the
establishment of the Constitution of the United States with
a recognition of slavery as it existed in the States ; the
establishment of the ordinance for the government of the
North-western Territory, prohibiting, to tlie full extent of all
territory owned by the United States, the introduction of
slavery into that territory, while leaving to the States all
power over slavery in their own limits ; and creating a
power, in the new government, to put an end to the impor-
tation of slaves, after a limited period. There was entire
coincidence and concurrence of sentiment between the
North and the Soutli, upon all these questions, at the period
of the adoption of the Constitution. But opinions. Sir, have
changed, greatly changed ; changed North and changed
South. Slavery is not regarded in the South now as it
was then. I see an honorable member of this body paying
me the honor of listening to my remarks ; * he brings to my
mind, Sir, freshly and vividly, what I have learned of his
great ancestor, so much distinguished in his day and genera-
tion, so worthy to be succeeded by so worthy a grandson,
and of the sentiments he expressed in the Convention in
Philadelphia.

Here we may pause. There was, if not an entire una-
nimity, a general concurrence of sentiment running through
the whole community, and especially entertained by the
eminent men of all parts of the country. But soon a change
began, at the North and the South, and a difference of opin-
ion showed itself; the North growing much more warm

* Mr. Mason of Virginia.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 351

and strong against slavery, and the South growing much
more warm and strong in its support. Sir, there is no gen-
eration of mankind whose opinions are not subject to be in-
fluenced by what appear to them to be their present emergent
and exigent interests. I impute to the South no particularly
selfish view in the change which has come over her. I im-
pute to her certainly no dishonest view. All that has hap-
pened has been natural. It has followed those causes which
always influence the human mind and operate upon it.
What, then, have been the causes which have created so
new a feeling in favor of slavery in the South, which have
changed the whole nomenclature of the South on that sub-
ject, so that, from being thought and described in the terms
I have mentioned and will not repeat, it has now become an
institution, a cherished institution, in that quarter ; no evil,
no scourge, but a great religious, social, and moral blessing,
as I think I have heard it latterly spoken of? I suppose
this, Sir, is owing to the rapid growth and sudden extension
of the COTTON plantations of the South. So far as any mo-
tive consistent with honor, justice, and general judgment
could act, it was the cotton interest that gave a new desire
to promote slavery, to spread it, and to use its labor. I
again say that this change was produced by causes which
must always produce like eflfects. The whole interest of
the South became connected, more or less, with the exten-
sion of slavery. If we look back to the history of the com-
merce of this country in the early years of this government,
what were our exports 1 Cotton was hardly, or but to a very
limited extent, known. In 1791 the first parcel of cotton
of the growth of the United States was exported, and
amounted only to 19,200 pounds. It has gone on increasing
rapidly, until the whole crop may now, perhaps, in a season
of great product and high prices, amount to a hundred mil-
lions of dollars. In the years I have mentioned, there was
more of wax, more of indigo, more of rice, more of almost
every article of export from the South, than of cotton.
When Mr. .lay negotiated the treaty of 1794 with England,
it is evident from the twelfth article of the treaty, which was
suspended by the Senate, that he did not know that cotton
was exported at all from the United States.

352 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Well, Sir, we know what followed. The age of cotton
became the golden age of our Southern brethren. It grati
fied their desire for improvement and accumulation, at the
same time that it excited it. The desire grew by what it
fed u}3on, and there soon came to be an eagerness for other
territory, a new area or new areas for the cultivation of the
cotton crop ; and measures leading to this result were
brought about rapidly, one after another, under the lead
of Southern men at the head of the government, they having
a majority in both branches of Congress to accomplish their
ends. The honorable member from South Carolina* ob-
served that there has been a majority all along in favor of
the North. If that be true. Sir, the North has acted either
very liberally and kindly, or very weakly ; for they never
exercised that majority efficiently five times in the history
of the government, when a division or trial of strength
arose. Never. Whether they were outgeneralled, or wheth-
er it was owing to other causes, I shall not stop to consider ;
but no man acquainted with the history of the Union can
deny that the general lead in the politics of the country,
for three fourths of the period that has elapsed since the
adoption of the Constitution, has been a Southjrn lead.

In 1802, in pursuit of the idea of opening a new cotton
region, the United States obtained a cession from Georgia
of the whole of her western territory, now embracing the
rich and growing States of Alabama and Mississippi. In
1803 Louisiana was purchased from France, out of which
the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri have been
framed, as slaveholding States. In 1819 the cession of
Florida was made, bringing in another region adapted to
cultivation by slaves. Sir, the honorable member from
South Carolina thought he saw in certain operations of the
government, such as the manner of collecting the revenue,
and the tendency of measures calculated to promote emigra-
tion into the country, what accounts for the more rapid
growth of the North than the South. He ascribes that more
rapid growth, not to the operation of time, but to the sys-
tem of government and administration estabhshed under this
Constitution. That is matter of opinion. To a certain ex-

* Mr. Calhoun.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 353

.ent it may be true ; but it does seem to me, that, if any
operation of the government can be shown in any degree to
have promoted the population, and growth, and wealth of
the North, it is much more sure that there are sundry im-
portant and distinct operations of the government, about
which no man can doubt, tending to promote, and which
absolutely have promoted, the increase of the slave interest
and the slave territory of the South. It was not time that
brought in Louisiana ; it was the act of men. It was not
time that brought in Florida ; it was the act of men. And
lastly. Sir, to complete those acts of legislation which have
contributed so much to enlarge the area of the institution
of slavery, Texas, great and vast and illimitable Texas,
was added to the Union as a slave State in 1845 ; and that,
Sir, pretty much closed the whole chapter, and settled the
whole account.

That closed the whole chapter and settled the whole ac-
count, because the annexation of Texas, upon the conditions
and under the guaranties upon which she was admitted, did
not leave within the control of this government an acre of
land, capable of being cultivated by slave labor, between
this Capitol and the Rio Grande or the Nueces, or whatever
is the proper boundary of Texas ; not an acre. From that
moment, the whole country, from this place to the western
boundary of Texas, was fixed, pledged, fastened, decided,
to be slave territory for ever, by the solemn guaranties of
law. And I now say. Sir, as the proposition upon which I
stand this day, and upon the truth and firmness of which I
intend to act until it is overthrown, that there is not at
this moment within the United States, or any territory of
the United States, a single foot of land, the character
of which, in regard to its being free territory or slave
territory, is not fixed by some law, and some irrepealable
law, beyond the power of the action of the government.
Is it not so with respect to Texas ? It is most manifestly
so. The honorable member from South Carolina, at thp
time of the admission of Texas, held an important post in
the executive department of the government ; he was Secre-
tary of State. Another eminent person of great activity
28

354 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and adroitness in affairs, I mean the late Secretary of the
Treasury, was a conspicuous member of this body, and took
the lead in the business of annexation, in cooperation with
the Secretary of State ; and I must say that they did their
business faithfully and thoroughly ; there was no botch left
in it. They rounded it off, and made as close joiner work
as ever was exhibited. Resolutions of annexation were
brought into Congress, fitly joined together, compact, ef-
ficient, conclusive upon the great object which they had in
view, and those resolutions passed.

Allow me to read a part of these resolutions. It is the
third clause of the second section of the resolution of the 1st
of March, 1845, for the admission of Texas, which applies
to this part of the case. That clause is as follows : —

" New States, of convenient size, not exceeding four in number, in
addition to said State of Texas, and having sufficient population, may
hereafter, by the consent of said State, be formed out of the territory
thereof, which shall be entitled to admission under the provisions of the
Federal Constitution. And such States as may be formed out of that
portion of said territory lying south of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes
north latitude, commonly known as the Missouri Compromise line, shall
be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as the people of
each State asking admission may desire ; and in such State or States as
shall be formed out of said territory north of said Missouri Compro-
mise line, slavery or involuntary servitude (except for crime) shall be
prohibited."

Now, what is here stipulated, enacted, and secured 1 It
is, that all Texas south of 36° 30^ which is nearly the whole
of it, shall be admitted into the Union as a slave State. It
was a slave State, and therefore came in as a slave State ;
and the guaranty is, that new States shall be made out of it,
to the number of four, in addition to the State then in ex-
istence and admitted at that time by these resolutions, and
that such States as are formed out of that portion of Texas
lying south of 36° 30'' may come in as slave States. I
know no form of legislation which can strengthen this. I
know no mode of recognition that can add a tittle of
weight to it. I know no way, I candidly confess, in which
this government, acting in good faith, as I trust it always
will, can relieve itself from that stipulation and pledge, by
any honest course of legislation whatever.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 355

I, hope, Sir, it is now apparent that my proposition, so
far as it respects Texas, has been maintained, and that the
provision in this article is clear and absohite ; and it has been
well sao:gested by my friend from Rhode Island,* that that part
of Texas which lies north of 36° 30'' of north latitude, and
which may be formed into free States, is dependent, in like
manner, upon the consent of Texas, herself a slave State.

Now, Sir, how came this ? How came it to pass that
within these walls, where it is said by the honorable mem-
ber from South Carolina that the free States have always
had a majority, this resolution of annexation, such as I have
described it, obtained a majority in both houses of Congress?
Sir, it obtained that majority by the great number of North-
ern votes added to the entire Southern vote, or at least
nearly the whole of the Southern vote. The aggregate was
made up of Northern and Southern votes. In the House
of Representatives there were about eighty Southern votes
and about fifty Northern votes for the admission of Texas.
In the Senate the vote for the admission of Texas was
twenty-seven, and twenty-five against it ; and of those
twenty-seven votes, constituting the majority, no less than
thirteen came from the free States, and four of them were
from New England. The whole of these thirteen Senators,
constituting within a fraction, you see, one half of all the
votes in this body for the admission of this immeasurable
extent of slave territory, wei'e sent here by free States.

Sir, there is not so remarkable a chapter in our history
of political events, political parties, and political men as is
afiJbrded by this admission of a new slaveholding territory,
so vast that a bird cannot fly over it in a week. New Eng-
land, as I have said, with some of her own votes, supported
this measure. Three fourths of the votes of liberty-loving
Connecticut were given fijr it in the other house, and one
half here. There was one vote for it from Maine, but, I
am happy to say, not the vote of the honorable member'
who addressed the Senate the day before yesterday, t and who
was then a Representative from Maine in the House of
Representatives ; but there was one vote from Maine, ay,

* Mr. Greene. f Mr, Hamlin.

356 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and there was one vote for it from Massachusetts, given
by a gentleman then representing, and now Hving in, the
district in which the prevalence of Free Soil sentiment for a
couple of years or so has defeated the choice of any member
to represent it in Congress.

Mr. President, in the excited times in which we live,
there is found to exist a state of crimination and recrimina-
tion between the North and South. There are lists of
grievances produced by each ; and those grievances, real or
supposed, ahenate the minds of one portion of the country
from the other, exasperate the feelings, and subdue the sense
of fraternal affection, patriotic love, and mutual regard.

Now, Sir, so far as any of these grievances have their
foundation in matters of law, they can be redressed, and
ought to be redressed; and so far as they have their foun-
dation in matters of opinion, in sentiment, in mutual crimi-
nation and recrimination, all that we can do is to endeavor
to allay the agitation, and cultivate a better feeling and more
fraternal sentiments between the South and the North.

Mr. President, I siiould much prefer to have heard from
every member on this floor declarations of opinion that this
Union could never be dissolved, than the declaration of opin-
ion by any body, that, in any case, under the pressure of
any circumstances, such a dissolution was possible. I hear
with distress and anguish the word *' secession," especially
when it falls from the lips of those who are patriotic, and
known to the country, and known all over the world, for
their political services. Secession ! Peaceable secession !
Sir, your eyes and mine are never destined to, see that mira-
cle. The dismemberment of this vast country without con-
vulsion ! The breaking up of the fountains of the great
deep without ruffling the surface ! Who is so foolish, I beg
every body's pardon, as to expect to see any such thing ?
Sir, he who sees these States, now revolving in iiarmony
around a common centre, and expects to see them quit their
places and fly ofl* without convulsion, may look the next liour
to see the heavenly bodies rush from their spheres, and jos-
tle against each other in the realms of space, witliout caus-
ing the wreck of the universe. There can be no such thing

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 357

as a peaceable secession. Peaceable secession is an utter
impossibility. Is the great Constitution under which we
live, covering this whole country, is it to be thawed and
melted away by secession, as the snows on the mountain
melt under the influence of a vernal sun, disappear almost
unobserved, and run off? No, Sir! No, Sir ! I will not
state what might produce the disruption of the Union ; but,
Sir, I see as plainly as I see the sun in heaven what that
disruption itself must produce ; I see that it must produce war,
and such a war as I will not describe, in its twofold character.
Peaceable secession ! Peaceable secession ! The con-
current agreement of all the members of this great republic
to separate ! A voluntary separation, with alimony on one
side and on the other. Why, what would be the result 1
Where is the line to be drawn 1 What States are to secede 1
What is to remain American ? What am I to be 1 An
American no longer ? Am I to become a sectional man, a
local man, a separatist, with no country in common with the
gentlemen who sit around me here, or who fill the other
house of Congress ? Heaven forbid! Where is the flag of
the republic to remain ? Where is the eagle still to tower 1
or is he to cower, and shrink, and fall to the ground 1 Why,
Sir, our ancestors, our fathers and our grandfathers, those
of them that are yet living amongst us with prolonged lives,
would rebuke and reproach us ; and our children and our
grandchildren would cry out shame upon us, if we of this
generation should dishonor these ensigns of the power of
the government and the harmony of that Union which is
every day felt among us with so much joy and gratitude.
What is to become of the army ? What is to become of
the navy 1 What is to become of the public lands 7 How
is each of the thirty States to defend itself? I know, al-
though the idea has not been stated distinctly, there is to be,
or it is supposed possible that there will be, a Southern Con-
federacy. I do not mean, when I allude to this state-
ment,' that any one seriously contemplates such a state of
things. I do not mean to say that it is true, but I have
heard it suggested elsewhere, that the idea has been enter-
tained, that, after the dissolution of this Union, a Southern

358 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOF.

Confederacy might be formed. I am sorry, Sir, that it has
ever been thought of, talked of, or dreamed of, in the wild-
est flights of human imagination. But the idea, so far as it
exists, must be of a separation, assigning the slave States to
one side, and the free States to the other. Sir, 1 may ex-
press myself too strongly, perhaps, but there are impossibili-
ties in the natural as well as in the physical world, and I
hold the idea of a separation of these States, those that are
free to form one government, and those that are slavehold-
ing to form another, as such an impossibility. We could
not separate the States by any such line, if we were to draw
it. We could not sit down here to-day and draw a line of
separation that would satisfy any five men in the country.
There are natural causes that would keep and tie us to-
gether, and there are social and domestic relations which we
could not break if we would, and which we should not if we
could.

Sir, nobody can look over the face of this country at the
present moment, nobody can see where its population is the
most dense and growing, without being ready to admit, and
compelled to admit, that ere long the strength of America
will be in the Valley of the Mississippi. Well, now. Sir, I
beg to inquire what the wildest enthusiast has to say on the
possibility of cutting that river in two, and leaving free
States at its source and on its branches, and slave States
down near its mouth, each forming a separate government 1
Pray, Sir, let me say to the people of this country, that
these things are worthy of their pondering and of their con-
sideration. Here, Sir, are five miUions of freemen in the
free States, north of the river Ohio. Can any body suppose
that this population can be severed by a fine that divides
them from the territory of a foreign and an alien governr
ment, down somewhere, the Lord knows where, upon the
lower banks of the Mississippi ? What would become
of Missouri 1 Will she join the arrondissement of the
slave States 1 Shall the man from the Yellow Stone and
the Platte be connected, in the new republic, with the man
who lives on the southern extremity of the Cape of Florida \
Sir, I am ashamed to pursue this line of remark. I dislike

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 359

it, I have an utter disgust for it. I would rather hear of
natural blasts and mildews, war, pestilence, and fomine, than
to hear gentlemen talk of secession. To break up this great
government ! to dismember this glorious country ! to aston-
ish Europe with an act of folly such as Europe for two cen-
turies has never beheld in any government or any people !
No, Sir ! no. Sir ! There will be no secession ! Gentle-
men are not serious when they talk of secession.

I have one other remark to make. In my observations
upon slavery as it has existed in this country, and as it now
exists, I have expressed no opinion of the mode of its ex-
tinguishment or melioration. 1 will say, however, though I
have nothing to propose, because I do not deem myself so
competent as other gentlemen to take any lead on this sub-
ject, that if any gentleman from the South shall propose a
scheme, to be carried on by this government upon a large
scale, for the transportation of free colored people to any
colony or any place in the world, I should be quite disposed
to incur almost any degree of expense to accomplish that
object. Nay, Sir, following an example set more than
twenty years ago by a great man,* then a Senator from
New York, I would return to Virginia, and through her to
the whole South, the money received from the lands and
territories ceded by her to this government, for any such
purpose as to remove, in whole or in part, or in any way to
diminish or deal beneficially with, the free colored popula-
tion of the Southern States. I have said that I honor Vir-
ginia for her cession of this territory. There have been re-
ceived into the treasury of the United States eighty millions
of dollars, the proceeds of the sales of the public lands
ceded by her. If the residue should be sold at the same
rate, the whole aggregate will exceed two hundred millions
of dollars. If Virginia and the South see fit to adopt any
proposition to relieve themselves from the free people of
color among them, or such as may be made free, they have
my full consent that the government shall pay them any sum
of money out of the proceeds of that cession which may be
adequate to the purpose.

* Mr. Rufus King.

860 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

And now, Mr. President, I draw these o])servations to a
close. I have spoken freelj, and I meant to do so. I have
sought to make no display. I have sought to enliven the
occasion by no animated discussion, nor have I attempted
any train of elaborate argument. I have wished only to
speak my sentiments, fully and at length, being desirous,
once and for all, to let the Senate know, and to let the
country know, the opinions and sentiments which I enter-
tain on all these subjects. These opinions are not likely to
be suddenly changed. If there be any future service that I
can render to the country, consistently with these sentiments
and opinions, I shall cheerfully render it. If there be not,
I shall still be glad to have had an opportunity to disburden
myself from the bottom of my heart, and to make known
every political sentiment that therein exists.

And now, Mr. President, instead of speaking of the pos-
sibility or utility of secession, instead of dwelling in those
caverns of darkness, instead of groping with those ideas so
full of all that is horrid and horrible, let us come out into
the light of day ; let us enjoy the fresh air of Liberty and
Union ; let us cherish those hopes which belong to us ; let
us devote ourselves to those great objects that are fit for our
consideration and our action ; let us raise our conceptions
to the magnitude and the importance of the duties that de-
volve upon us ; let our comprehension be as broad as the
country for which we act, our aspirations as high as its cer-
tain destiny ; let us not be pigmies in a case that calls for
men. Never did there devolve on any generation of men
higher trusts than now devolve upon us, for the preservation
of this Constitution and the harmony and peace of all who
are destined to live under it. Let us make our generation
one of the strongest and brightest links in that golden chain
which is destined, I fondly believe, to grapple the people of
all the States to this Constitution for ages to come. We
have a great, popular, constitutional government, guarded
by law and by judicature, and defended by the affections of
the whole people. No monarchical throne presses these
States together, no iron chain of military power encircles
them ; they live and stand under a government popular in

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 361

its form, representative in its character, founded upon prin-
ciples of equality, and so constructed, we hope, as to last
for ever. In all its history it has been beneficent ; it has
trodden down no man's liberty ; it has crushed no State.
Its daily respiration is liberty and patriotism ; its yet youth-
ful veins are full of enterprise, courage, and honorable love
of glory and renown. Large before, the country has now,
by recent events, become vastly larger. This republic now
extends, with a vast breadth, across the whole contiiient.
The two great seas of the world wash the one and the other
shore. We realize, on a mighty scale, the beautiful de-
scription of the ornamental border of the buckler of
Achilles : —

** Now, tlie broad shield complete, the artist crowned
With his last hand, and poured the ocean round ;
In living silver seemed the waves to roll,
And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole."

THE COMPROMISE MEASURES.

Speech delivered m the Senate of the United States, on the 11th of July, 1850, on the Bill
reported by the Committee of Thirteen, commonly called " The Compromise Bill."

Mr. President, — It was my purpose, on Tuesday of
last week, to follow the honorable member from South
Carolina,* who was addressing the Senate on the morning
of that day, with what I then had, and now have, to say
upon the subject of this bill. But before the honorable
member had concluded his remarks, it was announced to us
that the late chief magistrate of the United States was dan-
gerously ill, and the Senate was moved to adjourn. The
solemn event of the decease of the President took place
that evening.

Sir, various and most interesting reflections present them-
selves to the minds of men, growing out of that occurrence.
The chief magistrate of a great republic died suddenly.
Recently elected to that office by the spontaneous voice of
bis fellow-countrymen, possessing in a high degree their con-

« Mr. Butler-

362 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

fidence and regard, ere yet he had had a fair opportunity to
develop the principles of his civil administration, he fell by
the stroke of death. Yet, Sir, mixed with the sad thoughts
which this event suggests, and the melancholy feeling which
spread over the whole country, the real lovers and admirers
of our constitutional government, in the midst of their grief
and affliction, found something consoling and gratifying.
The executive head of a great nation had fallen suddenly;
no disturbance arose ; no shock was felt in the great and
free republic. Credit, public and private, was in no way
disturbed, and danger to the community or individuals was
nowhere felt. The legislative authority was neither dis-
solved nor prorogued ; nor was there any further interrup-
tion or delay in the exercise of the ordinary functions of
every branch of the government, than such as was necessary
for the indulgence, the proper indulgence, of the grief which
afflicted Congress and the country. Sir, for his country
General Taylor did not live long enough ; but there were
circumstances in his death so favorable for his own fame and
character, so gratifying to all to whom he was most dear,
that he may be said to have died fortunately.

" That life is long which answers life's great end."

A gallant soldier, able and experienced in his profession,
he had achieved all that was to be expected by him in that
line of duty. Placed at the head of the government, as I
have said, by the free voice of the people, he died in the
full possession of the gratitude of his country. He died in
the midst of domestic affections and domestic happiness.
He died in the consciousness of duty performed. He died
here, in the midst of the councils of his country ; which
country, through us, its organs, has bestowed upon him those
simple, but grand and imposing rites, which the republic
confers on the most distinguished of her sons.

" Such honors Ilium to her hero paid,
And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade."

He has run the race destined for him by Providence, and he
sleeps with the blessings of his countrymen.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 363

Mr. President, I proceed now to say upon the subject
before us what it was my purpose then to have said. I be-
gin by remarking, that the longer we stay in the midst of
this agitating subject, the longer the final disposition of it is
postponed, the greater will be the intensity of that anxiety
which possesses my breast. I wish, Sir, so far as I can, to
harmonize opinions. I wish to facilitate some measure of
concihation. I wish to consummate some proposition or
other, that shall bring opposing sentiments together, and
give the country repose. It is not my purpose to-day to
compare or contrast measures or plans which have been pro-
posed. A measure was suggested by the President, in his
message of 1848. The same measure, substantially, was
again recommended by the late President, in his message
of 1849. Then there is before us this proposition of the
Committee of Thirteen. I do not regard these as opposite,
conflicting, or, to use the language of the day, antagonisti-
cal propositions at all. To a certain extent, they all agree.
Beyond what was proposed either by Mr. Polk or by the
late President, this report of the committee, and the bill
now before us, go another step. Their suggestions were,
and especially that of the late President, to admit Califor-
nia, and for the present to stop there. The bill before the
Senate proposes to admit California, but also to make a
proper provision, if the Senate deem the provision proper,
for the Territories of New Mexico and Utah. I confess,
Sir, my judgment from the first has been, that it was indis-
pensable that Congress should make some provision for these
Territories ; but I have been indifferent whether the things
necessary to be done should be done in one bill or in sepa-
rate bills, except that, as a matter of expediency, it was and
has been my opinion, from the beginning, that it would have
been better to have proceeded measure by measure. That
was a matter of opinion upon the expediency of the course
I was one of the Committee of Thirteen. Circumstances
called me to my home during its deliberations ; and the
general opinion of the committee at that time seemed to be,
and I thought the better opinion, in favor of beginning with

364 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

California, and then taking up the other measures in their
order. Upon further consideration, the committee, very
fairly, I doubt not, and in the exercise of their best judg-
ment and discretion, thought lit to unite the three things
which are in this bill. Well, Sir, whether singly or together,
each and every one of these objects meets my approbation,
and they are all, in my judgment, desirable.

In the first place, I think it is a desirable object to admit
California. I do not conceal from myself, nor do I wish to
conceal from others, that California is before us with some
degree of irregularity stamped upon her proceedings. She
has not been through the previous process of territorial ex-
istence. She has formed her constitution without our con-
sent. But I consider, Sir, that California, from the extraor-
dinary circumstances which have attended her birth and
progress to the present moment, entitles herself, by the ne-
cessity of the case, to an exemption from the ordinary rules.
Who expected to see such a great community spring up in
such an incredibly short time ? Who expected to see a hun-
dred or a hundred and fifty thousand people engaged in such
an employment, with so much activity, and enterprise, and
commerce, drawing to themselves the admiration and regard
of the whole world, in the period of a few months 1 Well,
Sir, she comes to us with a constitution framed upon repub-
lican models, and conformable to the Constitution of the
United States ; and under these circumstances, still regard-
ing her application as premature and irregular, I am for ad-
mitting her, as there has been nothing done which her admis-
sion on our part will not cure. She will be lawfully in the
Union if we admit her, and therefore I have no hesitation
upon that point.

I am sorry. Sir, very sorry, that my friend from Connect-
icut,* who has studied this case a great deal more than I
have, not only as a member of this body, but while he was
a member of the other house, and has demonstrated, beyond
the power of any conscientious man's denial, that there can
be no slavery in the Territory about which we are speaking,

* Mr. Smith.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 365

that the South is mistaken in supposing it possible to derive
any benefit from it, and that the North is mistaken in sup-
posing that that which they desire to prohibit will ever need
any prohibition there ; I am sorry to see that my very able
friend, having demonstrated the case, did not carry out his
own demonstration. The expression of his purpose to vote
against this bill followed one of the clearest and strongest
demonstrations in its favor that I have heard from the mouth
of man. What is the reason of his opposition ? Why, tlie
gentleman said he was instructed by the legislature of Con-
necticut to oppose it ; and, on the whole, he did not feel it
to be his duty to depart from those instructions.

It has become. Sir, an object of considerable importance
in the history of this government, to inquire how far instruc-
tions, given ex parte and under one state of circumstances,
are to govern those who are to act under another state of
circumstances, and not upon an ex parte hearing, but upon a
hearing of the whole matter. The proposition, that a mem-
ber of this government, in giving a vote to bind all the
country, is to take as his instructions the will of a small part
of the country, whether in his own State or out of it, is a
proposition that is above or below ail argument. Where
men are sworn to act conscientiously for the good of the
wliole, according to their own best judgment and opinion, if
the proposition is asserted that they are, nevertheless, bound
to take the individual opinion of a few, and be exclusively
bound by that opinion, there is no room for argument;
every man's moral perception, without argument, decides on
such a proposition. I know, Sir, that, in a popular govern-
ment like ours, instructions of this sort will be given, and
pledges required. It is in the nature of the case. Politi-
cal men in this country love the people ; they love popular
applause and promotion, and they are willing to make prom-
ises ; and, as in other sorts of love, so in this, when the
blood burns, the soul prodigally lends the tongue vows. It
is especially the case in some States, in which, in election-
eering contests, instructions become little constitutions, which
men vow to support. These instructions are often given

366 CONSTITUTIONAL. TEXT BOOK.

under circumstances very remote from those that exist when
the duty comes to be performed ; and, T am sorry to say,
they are often given on collateral considerations. I will not
say when or where, how remotely or how lately ; but I am
very much inclined to think that we should find, in the his-
tory of the country, cases in which instructions are ready to
be given, or ready to be withheld, as the support of some
little fragment of some sectional party may be, or may not
be, obtained thereby.

Sir, it is curious enough to observe how differently this
idea, that a member chosen into a public body, to act for
the whole country, is bound, nevertheless, by the instructions
of those who elected him, which has risen to a sort of rule
in some of the American States, is received and treated else-
where. According to our notions and habits of thinking, it
is not only allowable for, but incumbent upon, a member of
Congress, to follow the instructions given by his own par-
ticular constituents, although his vote affects the interest,
the honor, the welfare, the renown, of twenty millions of
people. As an instance. Sir, of the various views taken
of this subject, as a question of morals, I may refer to what
happened in the Chamber of Deputies of France some years
ago, perhaps while the honorable member from Michigan *
was residing in Paris, but more probably shortly after his
return. A gentleman, who was a candidate for the Cham-
ber of Deputies, promised his constituents that on a certain
measure, expected to come before the Chamber, he would
vote as they required. They required him to vote so and
so, and he said he would do it. Well, Sir, he was chosen ;
and when he came to the Chamber to take the oath of office,
he was told. Not so fast ! Objection was made. The
Chamber said he did not come there as a fair man ; he did
not come as an impartial man, to judge of the interests of
the whole country upon the great questions that were to
come before the Chamber. He was pledged and tram-
melled; he had given up his conscience and promised his
vote, and therefore did not stand on an equality with other

* Mr. Cass.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 367

members of that assembly who came unpledged and untram-
melled, and bound to exercise their own best judgments.
In short, they rejected him ; and whoever wishes to see the
most beautiful disquisition upon political morals, and the
duty of those who represent the people, that I know of since
the time of Mr. Burke's speech at Bristol, can be gratified
by reading M. Guizot's speech on that occasion.

I have alluded to the argument of my friend from Con-
necticut, because it is the ablest argument on this subject
that I have heard ; and I have alluded to his intimated vote
as illustrating what I consider the evil of instructing men,
before a case arises, as to what shall be their conduct upon
that case. The honorable member from Connecticut is as
independent as any other man, and of course will not under-
stand me to mean any thing personal in what I have said.
I take his case merely as an illustration of the folly and
absurdity of instructions. Why should a man of his strength
of intellect, and while acting for the whole country, be con-
trolled in his judgment by instructions given by others, with
little knowledge of the circumstances, and no view of the
whole case ?

Mr. President, it has always seemed to me to be a grate-
ful reflection, that, however short and transient may be
the lives of individuals, states may be permanent. The
great corporations that embrace the government of mankind,
protect their liberties, and secure their happiness, may have
something of perpetuity, and, as I might say, of earthly
immortality. For my part. Sir, I gratify myself by con-
templating what in the future will be the condition of that
generous State, which has done me the honor to keep me in
the counsels of the country for so many years. I see noth-
ing about her in prospect less than that which encircles her
now. I feel that when I, and all those that now hear me,
shall have gone to our last home, and afterwards, when
mould may have gathered upon our memories, as it will
have done upon our tombs, that State, so early to take hei
part in the great contest of the Revolution, will stand, as
she has stood and now stands, like that column which, near
her Capitol, perpetuates the memory of the first great battle

368 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of the Revolution, firm, erect, and immovable. I believe,
Sir, that, if commotion shall shake the country, there will
be one rock for ever, as solid as the granite of her hills, for
the Union to repose upon. I believe that if disasters arise,
bringing clouds which shall obscure the ensign now over her
and over us, there will be one star that will but burn the
brighter amid the darkness of that night ; and I believe that,
if in the remotest ages ([ trust they will be infinitely remote)
an occasion shall occur when the sternest duties of patriotism
are demanded and to be performed, Massachusetts will imi-
tate her own example ; and that, as at the breaking out of
the Revolution she was the first to offer the outpouring of
her blood and her treasure in the struggle for liberty, so she
will be hereafter ready, when the emergency arises, to re-
peat and renew that offer, with a thousand times as many
warm hearts, and a thousand times as many strong hands.

And now, Mr. President, to return at last to the principal
and important question before us, What are we to do ?
How are we to bring this emergent and pressing question
to an issue and an end 1 Here have we been seven and a
half months, disputing about points which, in my judgment,
are of no practical importance to one or the other part of
the country. Are we to dwell for ever upon a single topic,
a single idea ? Are we to forget all the purposes for which
governments are instituted, and continue everlastingly to dis-
pute about that which is of no essential consequence 1 I
think, Sir, the country calls upon us loudly and impera-
tively to settle this question. I think that the whole world
is looking to see whether this great popular government can
get through sucii a crisis. We are the observed of all
observers. ft is not to be disputed or doubted, that the
eyes of all Christendom are upon us. We have stood
through many trials. Can we not stand through this, which
takes so much the character of a sectional controversy?
Can we stand that ] There is no inquiring man in all
Europe who does not ask himself that question every day,
when he reads the intelligence of the morning. Can this
country, with one set of interests at the South, and another
set of interests at the North, and these interests supposed,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 369

but falsely supposed, to be at variance ; can this people see
what is so evident to the whole world beside, that this Union
is their main hope and greatest benefit, and that their inter-
ests in every part are entirely compatible 1 Can they see,
and will they feel, that their prosperity, their respectability
among the nations of the earth, and their happiness at home,
depend upon the maintenance of their Union and their
Constitution 1 That is the question. I agree that local
divisions are apt to warp the understandings of men, and
to excite a belligerent feeling between section and section.
It is natural, in times of irritation, for one part of the
country to say, If you do that, I will do this, and so get up
a feeling of hostility and defiance. Then comes belligerent
legislation, and then an appeal to arms. The question is,
whether we have the true patriotism, the Americanism,
necessary to carry us through such a trial. The whole
world is looking towards us with extreme anxiety. For
myself, I propose, Sir, to abide by the principles and the
purposes which I have avowed. I shall stand by the Union,
and by all who stand by it. I shall do justice to the whole
country, according to the best of my ability, in all I say,
and act for the good of the whole country in all I do. I
mean to stand upon the Constitution. I need no other plat-
form. I shall know but one country. The ends I aim at
shall be my country's, my God's, and Truth's. I was born
an American ; I will live an American ; I shall die an
American ; and I intend to perform the duties incumbent
upon me in that character to the end of my career. I
mean to do this, with absolute disregard of personal conse-
quences. What are personal consequences ? What is the
individual man, with all the good or evil that may betide
him, in comparison with the good or evil which may befall
a great country in a crisis like this, and in the midst of
great transactions which concern that country's fate ? Let
the consequences be what they will, I am careless. No
man can suff*er too much, and no man can fall too soon, if
he suffer or if he fall in defence of the liberties and Consti«
tution of his country.

24

370 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

PILGRIM FESTIVAL AT NEW YOEK IN 1850.

Speech delivered before the Mew England Society of JVew York on Occasion of the Pilgrim

Festival for 1850.

After the customary toasts on this occasion had been given, the
President of the day, Mr. Grinnell, asked attention to a toast which, as
he said, was not on the list, but which he thought every one would vote
ought to be placed there forthwith. He gave " The Cokstitution
AND THE Union, and their Chief Defender." This sentiment
was received with great applause ; and when Mr. Webster rose to re-
spond to it, he was greeted with the most prolonged and tumultuous
cheers. When the applause had subsided, he spoke as follows : —

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the New England
Society of New York : — Ye sons of New England ! Ye
brethren of the kindred tie ! I have come hither to-night,
not without some inconvenience, that I might behold a con-
gregation whose faces bear lineaments of a New England
origin, and whose hearts beat with full New England pulsa-
tions. I willingly make the sacrifice. I am here to attend
this meeting of the Pilgrim Society of New York, the great
offshoot of the Pilgrim Society of Massachusetts. And,
Gentlemen, I shall begin what I have to say, which is but
little, by tendering to you my thanks for the invitation ex-
tended to me, and by wishing you, one and all, every kind
of happiness and prosperity.

Gentlemen, this has been a stormy, cold, boisterous, and
inclement day. The winds have been harsh, the skies have
been severe ; and if we had been exposed to their rigor ; if
we had no shelter against this howling and freezing tempest ;
if we were wan and worn out ; if half of us were sick and
tired, and ready to descend into the grave ; if we were on the
bleak coast of Plymouth, houseless, homeless, with nothing
over our heads but the heavens, and that God who sits above
the heavens; if we had distressed wives on our arms, and
hungry and shivering children clinging to our skirts, we
should see something, and feel something, of that scene,
which, in the providence of God, was enacted at Plymouth
on the 22d of December, 1620.

Thanks to Almighty God, who, from that distressed early
condition of our fathers, has raised us to a height of pros-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 371

perity and of happiness which they neither enjoyed, nor
could have anticipated ! We have learned much of them ;
they could have foreseen little of us. Would to God my
friends, that, when we carry our affections and our recollec-
tions back to that period, we could arm ourselves vt'ith some-
thing of the stern virtues which supported them in that hour
of peril, and exposure, and suffering ! Would to God that
we possessed that unconquerable resolution, stronger than
bars of brass or iron, which strengthened their hearts ; that
patience, " sovereign o'er transmuted ill," and, above all,
that faith, that religious faith, which, with eyes fast fixed
upon heaven, tramples all things earthly beneath her tri-
umphant feet !

Gentlemen, the scenes of this world change. What our
ancestors saw and felt, we shall not see nor feel. What
they achieved, it is denied to us even to attempt. The se-
verer duties of life, requiring the exercise of the stern and
unbending virtues, were theirs. They were called upon for
the exhibition of those austere qualities, which, before they
came to the Western wilderness, had made them what they
were. Things have changed. In the progress of society,
the fashions and the habits of life, with all its conditions, have
changed. Their rigid sentiments, and their tenets, apparently
harsh and exclusive, we are not called on, in every respect,
to imitate or commend ; or rather to imitate, for we should
commend them always, when we consider the state of socie-
ty in which they had been adopted, and in which they
seemed necessary. Our fathers liad that religious senti-
ment, that trust in Providence, that determination to do
right, and to seek, through every degree of toil and suffer-
ing, the honor of God, and the preservation of their liberties,
which we shall do well to cherish, to imitate, and to equal,
to the utmost of our ability. It may be true, and it is true,
that in the progress of society the milder virtues have come
to belong more especially to our day and our condition. The
Pilgrims had been great sufferers from intolerance ; it was
not unnatural that their own faith and practice, as a conse-
quence, should become somewhat intolerant. This is the
common infirmity of human nature. Man retaliates on

372 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

man. It is to be hoped, however, that the greater spread
of the benignant principles of rehgion, of the divine charity
of Christianity, has, to some extent, improved the sentiments
which prevailed in the world at that time. No doubt the
*' first comers," as they were called, were attached to their
own forms of public worship, and to their own particular
and strongly-cherished religious opinions. No doubt they
esteemed those sentiments, and the observances which they
practised, to be absolutely binding on all, by the authority
of the word of God. It is true, I think, in the general ad-
vancement of human inteUigence, that we find, what they
do not seem to have found, that a greater toleration of re-
ligious opinion, a more friendly feeling towards all who pro-
fess reverence for God and obedience to his commands, is
not inconsistent with the great and fundamental principles
of religion ; I might rather say, is itself one of those funda-
mental principles. So we see in our day, I think, without
any departure from the essential principles of our fathers, a
more enlarged and comprehensive Christian philanthrophy.
It seems to be the American destiny, the mission which has
been intrusted to us here on this shore of the Atlantic, the
great conception and the great duty to which we are born,
to show that all sects, and all denominations, professfng
reverence for the authority of the Author of our being, and
belief in his revelations, may be safely tolerated without
prejudice either to our religion or to our liberties.

We are Protestants, generally speaking ; but you all
know that there presides at the head of the supreme judica-
ture of the United States a Roman Catholic ; and no man,
I suppose, through the whole United States, imagines that the
judicature of the country is less safe, that the administration
of public justice is less respectable or less secure, because
the Chief Justice of the United States has been, and is, a
firm adherent of that religion. And so it is in every depart-
ment of society amongst us. In both houses of Congress,
in all public offices, and all public affairs, we proceed on the
idea that a man's religious beUef is a matter above human
law ; that it is a question to be settled between him and his
Maker, because he is responsible to none but bis Maker for

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 373

adopting or rejecting' revealed truth. And here is the great
distinction which is sometimes overlooked, and which I am
afraid is now too often overlooked, in this land, the glorious
inheritance of the sons of the Pilgrims. Men, for their re^
ligious sentiments, are accountable to God, and to God only.
Religion is both a communication and a tie between man
and iiis Maker ; and to his own master every man standeth
or falleth. But when men come together in society, estab-
hsh social relations, and form governments for the protection
of the rights of all, then it is indispensable that this right
of private judgment should in some measure be relinquished
and made subservient to the judgment of the whole. Re-
ligion may exist while every man is left responsible only to
God. Society, civil rule, the civil state, cannot exist, while
every man is responsible to nobody and to nothing but to
his own opinion. And our New England ancestors under-
stood all this quite well. Gentlemen, there is the " Consti-
tution " which was adopted on board the Mayflower in
November, 1620, while that bark of immortal memory was
riding at anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. What is it 1
Its authors honored God ; they professed to obey all his
commandments, and to live ever and in all things in his
obedience. But they say, nevertheless, that for the estab-
lishment of a civil polity, and for the greater security and
preservation of their civil rights and liberties, they agree
that the laws and ordinances, acts and constitutions, (and I
am glad they put in the word " constitutions,^^) — they
say that these laws and ordinances, acts and constitutions,
which may be established by those whom they shall appoint
to enact them, they, in all due submission and obedience,
will support.

This constitution is not long. I will read it. It invokes
a religious sanction and the authority of God on their civil
obligations; for it was no doctrine of theirs that civil obe-
dience is a mere matter of expediency. Here it is : —

" In the name of God, Amen : We, whose names are underwritten,
the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign lord, King James, by the grace
of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king, defender of the
Faith, &c., having- undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement

374 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to
plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these
presents solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and of one
another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body poli-
tic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends
aforesaid, and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just
and equal laAvs and ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time
to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general
good of the colony ; unto which we promise all due submission and
obedience."

The right of private judgment in matters between the
Creator and the individual, and submission and obedience to
the will of the whole, in all that respects civil polity, and the
administration of such affairs as concerned the colony about
to be established, they regarded as entirely consistent ; and
the common sens6 of mankind, lettered and unlettered, every
where establishes and confirms this sentiment. Indeed, all
must see that it is the very ligament, the very tie, which
connects man to man, in the social system ; and these senti-
ments are imbodied in that constitution. Discourse on this
topic might be enlarged, but I pass from it.

Gentlemen, We are now two hundred and thirty years
from that great event. There is the Mayflower.* There
is an imitation on a small scale, but a correct one, of the
Mayflower. Sons of New England ! there was in ancient
times a ship that carried Jason to the acquisition of the
Golden Fleece. There was a flag ship at the battle of Acti-
um which made Augustus Csesar master of the world. In
modern times, there have been flag ships which have carried
Hawke, and Howe, and Nelson of the other continent, and
Hull, and Decatur, and Stewart of this, to triumph. What
are they all, in the chance of remembrance among men, to
that little bark, the Mayflower, which reached these shores
on the 22d day of December, 1620 ? Yes, brethren of New
England, yes ! that Mayflower was a flower destined to be
of perpetual bloom ! Its verdure will stand the sultry blasts
of summer, and the chilling winds of autumn. It will defy

* Pointing to a small figure of a ship, in confectionary, representing the
Mayflower, that stood before him.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 375

winter ; it will defy all climate, and all time, and will con-
tinue to spread its petals to the world, and to exhale an
ever-living odor and fragrance, to the last syllable of record-
ed time.

Gentlemen, brethren of New England ! whom I have
come some hundreds of miles to meet this night, let rae
present to you one of the most distinguislied of those per-
sonages who came hither on the deck of the Mayflower.
Let me fancy that I now see Elder William Brewster enter-
ing the door at the farther end of this hall ; a tall and erect
figure, of plain dress, of no elegance of manner beyond a
respectful bow, mild and cheerful, but of no merriment that
reaches beyond a smile. Let me suppose that his image
stood now before us, or that it was looking in upon this
assembly.

" Are ye," he would say, with a voice of exultation, and
yet softened with melancholy, " are ye our children 1 Does
this scene of refinement, of elegance, of riches, of luxury,
does all this come from our labors ? Is this magnificent
city, the like of which we never saw nor heard of on either
continent, is this but an ofl^shoot from Plymouth rock 1 Is
this one part of the great reward for which my brethren and
myself endured lives of toil and of hardship ? We had
faith and hope. God granted us the spirit to look forward,
and we did look forward. But this scene we never antici-
pated. Our hopes were on another life. Of earthly grati-
fications we tasted little ; for human honors we had little
expectation. Our bones lie on the hill in Plymouth church-
yard, obscure, unmarked, secreted, to preserve our graves
from the knowledge of savage foes. No stone tells where
we lie. And yet, let me say to you who are our descend-
ants, Vi^ho possess this glorious country and all it contains,
who enjoy this hour of prosperity and the thousand bless-
ings showered upon it by the God of your fathers, we envy
you not, we reproach you not. Be rich, be prosperous, be
enlightened. Live in pleasure, if such be your allotment
on earth ; but live, also, always to God and to duty. Spread
yourselves and your children over the continent, accom-
plish the whole of your great destiny, and if it be that

376 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

through the whole you carry Puritan hearts with you, if you
still cherish an undying love of civil and religious liberty,
and mean to enjoy them yourselves, and are willing to shed
your heart's blood to transmit them to your posterity, then
will you be worthy descendants of Carver, and Ailerton, and
Bradford, and the rest of those who landed from stormy
seas on the rock of Plymouth."

Gentlemen, that little vessel, on the 22d of December,
1620, made her safe landing on the shore of Plymouth
She had been tossed on a tempestuous ' ocean ; she ap-
proached the New England coast under circumstances of
great distress and trouble ; yet, amidst all the disasters of
her voyage, she accomplished her end, and she bore a hun-
dred precious pilgrims to the shore of the New World.

Gentlemen, let her be considered this night as an emblem
of New England, the New England which novY is. New
England is a ship, staunch, strong, well built, and particu-
larly well manned. She may be occasionally thrown into
the trough of the sea by tlie violence of winds and waves,
and may wallow there for a time ; but, depend upon it, she
will right herself. Siie will ere long come round to the wind,
and obey her helm.

We have hardly begun, my brethren, to realize the vast
importance to human society, and to the history and happi-
ness of the world, of the voyage of that little vessel which
brought hither the love of civil and religious liberty, and
the reverence of the Bible, for the instruction of the future
generations of men. We have hardly begun to realize the
consequences of that voyage. Heretofore the extension of
our race, following our New England ancestry, has crept
along the shore. But now it has extended itself. It has
crossed the continent. It has not only transcended the
AUeghanies, but has capped the Rocky Mountains. It is
now upon the shores of the !Pacific ; and on this day, or, if
not on this day, then this day twelvemonth, descendants of
New England will there celebrate the landing- •

(A Voice. " To-day ; tliey celebrate it to-day.")

God bless them I Here's to the health and success of
the California Society of Pilgrims assembled on the shores

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 377

of the Pacific. And it shall yet go hard if the three hun-
dred millions of people of China, provided they are intelli-
gent enough to understand any thing, shall not one day hear
and know something of the rock of Plymouth too.

But, gentlemen, I am trespassing too long on your time.
I am taking too much of what helongs to others. My voice
is neither a new voice, nor is it the voice of a young man.
It has been heard before in this place ; and the most that I
have thought or felt concerning New England history and
New England principles has been before, in the course of
my life, said here or elsewhere.

Your sentiment, Mr. President, which called me up be-
fore this meeting, is of a larger and more comprehensive
nature. It speaks of the Constitution under which vt^e live;
of the Union which has bound us together for sixty years,
and made us the fellow-citizens of those who settled at
Yorktown and the mouth of the Mississippi and their de-
scendants, and now, at last, of those who have come from
all corners of the earth and assembled in California. I con-
fess I have had my doubts whether the republican system
under which we live could be so vastly extended without
danger of dissolution. Thus far, I vt^illingly admit, my ap-
prehensions have not been realized. The distance is im-
mense ; the intervening country is vast. But the principle
on which our government is established, the representa-
tive system, seems to be indefinitely expansive ; and wherev-
er it d(jes extend, it seems to create a strong attachment to
the Union and the Constitution that protect it. I believe
California and New Mexico have had new life inspired into
all their people. They feel themselves partakers of a new
being, a new creation, a new existence. They are not the
men they thought themselves to be, now that they find they
are members of this great government, and hailed as citi-
zens of the United States of iVmerica. I hope, in the provi-
dence of God, as this system of States and representative
governments shall extend, that it will be strengthened. In
some respects, the tendency is to strengthen it. Local agi-
tations will disturb it less. If there has been on the Atlan-
tic coast, somewhere south of the Potomac, — and I will not

378 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK. •

define further where it is, — if there has been dissatisfaction,
that dissatisfaction has not been felt in Cahfornia ; it has
not been felt that side of the Rocky Mountains. It is a
localism., and I am one of those who beHeve that our system
of government is not to be destroyed by localisms, North or
South. No ; we have our private opinions, State prejudices,
local ideas ; but over all, submerging all, drowning all, is
that great sentiment, that always, and nevertheless, we are
all Americans. It is as Americans that we are known, the
whole world over. Who asks what State you are from, in
Europe, or in Africa, or in Asia 1 Is he an American 1
Does he belong to the United States 1 Does that flag pro-
tect liim 1 Does he rest under the eagle and the stars and
stripes ? If he does, all else is subordinate and of but little
concern.

Now it is our duty, while we live on the earth, to cherish
this sentiment ; to make it prevail over the whole country,
even if that country should spread over the whole continent.
It is our duty to carry Enghsh principles, I mean, Sir, [turn-
ing to Sir Henry Bulwer,] Anglo-Saxon American princi-
ples, over the whole continent; the great principles of Mag-
na Charta, of the English Revolution, and especially of the
American Revolution, and of the English language. Our
children will hear Shakspeare and Milton recited on the
shores of the Pacific. Nay, before that, American ideas,
which are essentially and originally English ideas, will pen-
etrate the Mexican, the Spanish mind ; and Mexicans and
Spaniards will thank God that they have been brought to
know something of civil liberty, of the trial by jury, and of
security for personal rights.

As for the rest, let us take courage. The dayspring
from on high has visited us; the country has been called
back to conscience and to duty. There is no longer immi-
nent danger of dissolution in these United States. We shall
live, and not die. We shall live as United Americans ; and
those who have supposed they could sever us, that they
could rend one American heart from another, and that
speculation and hypothesis, that secession and metaphysics,
could tear us asunder, will find themselves wofully mistaken.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 379

Let the mind of the sober American people remain sober.
Let it not inflame itself. Let it do justice to all. And the
truest course, and the surest course, to disappoint those who
meditate disunion, is just to leave them to themselves, and
see what thej can make of it. No, Gentlemen ; the time for
meditated secession is past. Americans, North and South,
will be hereafter more and more united. There is a stern-
ness and severity in the public mind lately aroused. I be-
lieve that. North and South, there has been, in the last year,
a renovation of public sentiment, an animated revival of the
spirit of union, and, more than all, of attachment to the
Constitution, regarding it as indispensably necessary ; and if
we would preserve our nationahty, it is indispensable that this
spirit of devotion should be still more largely increased.
And who doubts it ? If we give up that Constitution, what
are we 1 You are a Manhattan man ; 1 am a Boston man.
Another is a Connecticut, and another a Rhode Island man.
Is it not a great deal better, standing hand to hand, and
clasping hands, that we should remain as we have been for
sixty years, citizens of the same country, members of the
same government, united all, united now, and united for
ever ? That we shall 6e, Gentlemen, There have been
difficulties, contentions, controversies, angry controversies ;
but 1 tell you that, in my judgment, —

" those opposed eyes,
Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,
All of one nature, of one substance bred,
Did lately meet in th' intestine shock,
Shall now, in mutual, well-beseeming ranks,
March all one way."

RECEPTION AT BUFFALO, N. Y.

Speech delivered before a large Assembly of the Citizens of Buffalo and the County of
Erie, at a Public Reception on the 22(Z of May, 1851.

Fellow-Citizens of the City of Buffalo, — I am
very glad to see you : I meet you with pleasure. It is not
the first time tliat i have been in Buffalo, and 1 have always
come to it vAth .yratilication. It is at a great distance from

380 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

my own home. I am thankful that circumstances have
enabled me to be here again, and I regret that untoward
events deprived me of the pleasure of being* with you when
your distinguished fellow-citizen, the President of the United
States, visited you, and received from you, as he deserved,
not only a respectful, but a cordial and enthusiastic welcome.

Gentlemen, it has been suggested to me that it would be
agreeable to the citizens of Buffalo, and their neighbors in
tlie county of Erie, that I should state to you my opinions,
whatever may be their value, on the present condition of the
country, its prospects, its hopes, and its dangers ; and, fel-
low-citizens, 1 intend to do that, this day, and this hour, as
far as my strength will permit.

Gentlemen, there is but one question in this country now ;
or, if there be others, they are but secondary, or so subordi-
nate that they are all absorbed in that great and leading
question ; and that is neither more nor less than this : Can
we preserve the union of the States, not by coercion, not by
military power, not by angry controversies ; but can we of
this generation, you and 1, your friends and my friends, —
can we so preserve the union of these States, by such ad-
ministration of the powers of the Constitution as shall give
content and satisfaction to all who live under it, and draw us
together, not by military power, but by the silken cords of
mutual, fraternal, patriotic affection ? That is the question,
and no other. Gentlemen, I believe in party distinctions.
I am a party man. There are questions belonging to party
in which I take an interest, and there are opinions enter-
tained by other parties which I repudiate ; but what of all
that 7 If a house be divided against itself, it will fall, and
crush every body in it. We must see that we maintain the
government which is over us. We must see that we uphold
the Constitution, and we must do so without regard to party.

The question, fellow-citizens, (and I put it to you now as
the real question,) the question is, whether you and the rest
of the people of the great State of New York, and of all
the States, will so adhere to the Constitution, will so enact
and maintain laws to preserve that instrument, that you will
not only remain in the Union yourselves, but permit your

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 381

brethren to remain in it, and help to perpetuate it ? That
is the question. Will you concur in measures necessary to
maintain, the Union, or will you oppose such measures 1
That is the whole point of the case.

There are thirty or forty members of Congress from New
York ; you have your proportion in the United States Senate.
We have many members of Congress from New England.
Will they maintain the laws that are passed for the adminis-
tration of the Constitution, and respect the rights of the
South, so that the Union may be held together ; and not
only so that we may not go out of it ourselves, which we
are not inclined to do, but so that, by maintaining the rights
of others, they may also remain in the Union 1 Now, Gen-
tlemen, permit me to say, that I speak of no concessions.
If the South wish any concession from me, they will not
get it; not a hair's breadth of it. If they come to my
house for it, they will not find it, and the door will be shut ;
I concede nothing. But I say that I will maintain for them,
as I will maintain for you, to the utmost of my power, and
in the face of all danger, their rights under the Constitution,
and your rights under the Constitution. And I shall never
be found to falter in one or the other. It is obvious to every
one, and we all know it, that the origin of the great dis-
turbance which agitates the country is the existence of sla-
very in some of the States ; but we must meet the subject ;
we must consider it ; we must deal with it earnestly, hon-
estly, and justly. From the mouth of the St. John to the
confines of Florida, there existed, in 1775, thirteen colonies
of English origin, planted at different times, and coming
from different parts of England, bringing with them various
habits, and establishing, each for itself, institutions entirely
different from the institutions which they left, and in many
cases from each other. But they were all of English origin.
The English language was theirs, Shakspeare and Milton
were theirs, the common law of England was theirs, and the
Christian religion was theirs; and these things held them
together by the force of a common character. The aggres-
sions of the parent state compelled them to assert their in-
dependence. They declared independence, and that immor-

382 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tal act, pronounced on the 4th of July, 1776, made them
independent.

That was an act of union by the United States in Con-
gress assembled. But this act of itself did nothing to estab-
lish over them a general government. They had a Congress.
They had Articles of Confederation to prosecute the war.
But thus far they were still, essentially, separate and inde-
pendent each of the other. They had entered into a simple
confederacy, and nothing more. No State was bound by
what it did not itself agree to, or what was done according
to the provisions of the confederation. That was the state
of things. Gentlemen, at that time. The war went on ; vic-
tory crowned the American arms ; our independence was
acknowledged. The States were then united together under
a confederacy of very limited powers. It could levy no
taxes. It could not enforce its own decrees. It was a con-
federacy, instead of a united government. Experience
showed that this was insufficient and inefficient. Accord-
ingly, beginning as far back almost as the close of the war,
measures were taken for the formation of a united govern-
ment, a government in the strict sense of the term, a gov-
ernment that could pass laws binding on the individual citi-
zens of all the States, and which could enforce those laws
by its executive powers, having them interpreted by a judi-
cial power belonging to the government itself, and yet a gov-
ernment strictly limited in its nature. Well, Gentlemen,
this led to the formation of the Constitution of the United
States, and that instrument was framed on the idea of a
limited government. It proposed to leave, and did leave, the
different domestic institutions of the several States to them-
selves. It did not propose consolidation. It did not pro-
pose that the laws of Virginia should be the laws of New
York, or that the laws of New York should be the laws of
Massachusetts. It proposed only that, for certain purposes
and to a certain extent, there should be a united govern-
ment, and that that government should have the power
of executing its own laws. All the rest was left to the
several States.

We now come, Gentlemen, to the very point of the case.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 383.

At that time slavery existed in the Southern States, entailed
upon them in the time of the supremacy of British laws
over us. There it was. It was obnoxious to the Middle
and Eastern States, and honestly and seriously disliked, as
the records of the country will show, by the Southern States
themselves. Now, how was it to be dealt with 1 Were the
Northern and Middle States to exclude from the government
those States of the South which had produced a Washing-
ton, a Laurens, and other distinguished patriots, who had so
truly served, and so greatly honored, the whole country 1
Were they to be excluded from the new government because
they tolerated the institution of slavery 1 Your fathers and
my fathers did not think so. They did not see that it would
be of the least advantage, to the slaves of the Southern
States, to cut off the South from all connection with the
North. Their views of humanity led to no such result ;
and of course, when the Constitution was framed and estab-
lished, and adopted by you, here in New York, and by New
England, it contained an express provision of security to the
persons who lived in the Southern States, in regard to fugi-
tives who owed them service ; that is to say, it was stipu-
lated that the fugitive from service or labor should be restored
to his master or owner if he escaped into a free State. Well,
that had been the history of the country from its first settle-
ment. It was a matter of common practice to return fugi-
tives before the Constitution was formed. Fugitive slaves
from Virginia to Massachusetts were restored by the people
of Massachusetts. At that day there was a great system
of apprenticeship at the North, and many apprentices at the
North, taking advantage of circumstances, and of vessels
sailing to the South, thereby escaped ; and they were re-
stored on proper claim and proof. That led to a clear, ex-
press, and well-defined provision in the Constitution of the
country on the subject. Now I am aware that all these
things are well known ; that they have been stated a thou-
sand times ; but in these days of perpetual discontent and
misrepresentation, to state things a thousand times is not
enough ; for there are persons whose consciences, it would

384 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

seem, lead thein to consider it tlieir duty to deny, misrepre-
sent, falsify, and cover up truths.

Now these are words of the Constitution, fellow-citizens,
which I have taken the pains to transcribe therefrom, so that
he who runs may read: —

"no person held to service or labor in one
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into
another, shall, in conseq.uence of any law or reg-
ulation therein, be discharged from such service
or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of
the party to whom such service or labor may be

DUE."

Is there any mistake about that ? Is there any forty-
shilhng attorney here to make a question of it ? No. I
will not disgrace my profession by supposing such a thing.
There is not, in or out of an attorney's office in the county
of Erie, or elsewhere, one who could raise a doubt, or a
particle of a doubt, about the meaning of this provision of
the Constitution. He may act as witnesses do, sometimes,
on the stand. He may wriggle, and twist, and say he can-
not tell, or cannot remember. I have seen many such ef-
forts in my time, on the part of witnesses, to falsify and
deny the truth. But there is no man who can read these
words of the Constitution of the United States, and say they
are not clear and imperative. " No person," the Constitu-
tion says, "held to service or labor in one State, under the
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such service or labor may be due." Wiiy,
you may be told by forty conventions in Massachusetts, in
Ohio, in New York, or elsewhere, that, if a colored man
comes here, he comes as a freeman ; that is a non sequltur.
It is not so. If he comes as a fugitive from labor, the Con-
stitution says he is not a freeman, and that he shall be de-
livered up to those who are entitled to his service.

Gentlemen, that is the Constitution of the United States.
Do we, or do we not, mean to conform to it, and to execute

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 385

that part of the Constitution as well as the rest of it ? I
believe there are before me here members of Congress.
I suppose there may be here members of the State legis-
lature, or executive officers under the State government.
I suppose there may be judicial magistrates of New York,
executive officers, assessors, supervisors, justices of the
peace, and constables before me. ^^llow me to say, Gentle-
men, that there is not, that there cannot be, any one of these
officers in this assemblage, or elsewhere, who has not, ac-
cording to the form of the usual obligation, bound himself
by a solemn oath to support the Constitution. They have
taken their oaths on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God,
or by uplifted hand, as the case may be, or by a solenm af-
firmation, as is the practice in some cases; but among all
of them, there is not a man who holds, nor is there any
man who can hold, any office in the gift of the United States,
or of this State, or of any other State, who does not bind
himself, by the solemn obligation of an oath, to support the
Constitution of the United States. Well, is he to tamper
with that ? Is he to palter 1 Gentlemen, our political
duties are as much matters of conscience as any other
duties ; our sacred domestic ties, our most endearing social
relations, are no more the subjects for conscientious consid-
eration and conscientious discharge, than the duties we enter
upon under the Constitution of the United States. The
bonds of political brotherhood, which hold us together from
Maine to Georgia, rest upon the same principles of obliga-
tion as those of domestic and social life.

Then there was the other matter, and that was the Fugi-
tive Slave Law. Let me say a word about that. Under the
provisions of the Constitution, during Washington's admin-
istration, in the year 1793, there was passed, by general
consent, a law for the restoration of fugitive slaves. Hardly
any one opposed it at that period ; it was thought to be
necessary, in order to carry the Constitution into effect ; the
great men of New England and New York all concurred in
it. It passed, and answered all the purposes expected from
it, till about the year 1841 or 1842, when the States inter-
fered to make enactments in opposition to it. The act cf

386 . CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Congress said that State magistrates might execute the
duties of the law. Some of the States passed enactments
imposing a penalty on any State officers who exercised
authority under the law, or assisted in its execution ; others
denied the use of their jails to carry the law into effect ;
and, in general, at the commencement of the year 1850, it
had become absolutely indispensable that Congress should
pass some law for the execution of this provision of the
Constitution, or else give up that provision entirely. That
was the question. I was in Congress when it was brought
forward. I was for a proper law. I had, indeed, proposed
a different law ; I was of opinion that a summary trial by a
jury might be had, which would satisfy the people^ of the
North, and produce no harm to those who claimed the ser-
vice of fugitives ; but I left the Senate, and went to another
station, before any law was passed. The law of 1850
passed. Now I undertake, as a lawyer, and on my pro-
fessional character, to say to you, and to all, that the law
of 1850 is decidedly more favorable to the fugitive than
General Washington's law of 1793 ; and I will tell you why.
In the first place, the present law places the power in much
higher hands; in the hands of independent judges of the
Supreme and Circuit Courts, and District Courts, and of
commissioners who are appointed to office for their legal
learning. Every fugitive is brought before a tribunal of
high character, of eminent ability, of respectable station.
In the second place, when a claimant comes from Virginia
to New York, to say that one A or one B has run away, or
is a fugitive from service or labor, he brings with him a
record of the court of the county from which lie comes,
and that record must be sworn to before a magistrate, and
certified by the county clerk, and bear an official seal. The
affidavit must state that A or B had departed under such and
such circumstances, and had gone to another State ; and
that record under seal is, by the Constitution of the United
States, entitled to full credit in every State. Well, the
claimant or his agent comes here, and he presents to you
the seal of the court in Virginia, affixed to a record of his
declaration, that A or B had escaped from service. He

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 387

must then prove that the fuo;itive is here. He brings a wit-
ness ; he is asked if this is the man, and he proves it; or,
in nine cases out of ten, the fact would be admitted by the
fugitive himself.

Such is the present law ; and, much opposed and ma-
ligned as it is, it is more favorable to the fugitive slave than
the law enacted during Washington's administration, in 1793,
which was sanctioned by the North as well as by the South.
The present violent opposition has sprung up in modern
times. From whom does this clamor come ? Why, look at
the proceedings of the anti-slavery conventions ; look at
their resolutions. Do you find among those persons who
oppose this Fugitive Slave Law any admission whatever,
that any law ought to be passed to carry into effect the
solemn stipulations of the Constitution ? Tell me any such
case ; tell me if any resolution was adopted by the conven-
tion at Syracuse favorable to the carrying out of the Con-
stitution. Not one ! The fact is. Gentlemen, they oppose
the constitutional provision ; they oppose the whole ! Not
a man of them admits that there ought to be any law on
the subject. They deny, altogether, that the provisions of
the Constitution ought to be carried into effect. Look at
the proceedings of the anti-slavery conventions in Ohio,
Massachusetts, and at Syracuse, in the State of New York,
What do they say 1 " That, so help them God, no colored
man shall be sent from the State of New York back to his
master in Virginia ! " Do not they say that ? And, to the
fulfilment of that they " pledge their lives, their fortunes,
and their sacred honor." Their sacred honor ! They
pledge their sacred honor to violate the Constitution; they
pledge their sacred honor to commit treason against the
laws of their country!

I have already stated. Gentlemen, what your observation
of these things must have taught you. I will only recur to
the subject for a moment, for the purpose of persuading
you, as public men and private men, as good men and pa-
triotic men, that you ought, to the extent of your ability and
influence, to see to it that such laws are established and
maintained as shall keep you, and the South, and the West,

388 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and all the country, together, on the terms of the Constitu-
tion. I say, that what is demanded of us is to fulfil our
constitutional duties, and to do for the South what the South
has a rio:ht to demand.

Gentlemen, I have heen some time before the public.
My character is known, my life is before the country. I
profess to love liberty as much as any man living ; but I
profess to love American liberty, that liberty which is
secured to the country by the government under which we
live ; and I have no great opinion of that other and higher
liberty which disregards the restraints of law and of the
Constitution. I hold the Constitution of the United States
to be the bulwark, the only bulwark, of our liberties and of
our national character. I do not mean that you should be-
come slaves under the Constitution. That is not American
liberty. That is not the liberty of the Union for which our
fathers fought, that liberty which has given us a right to
be known and respected all over the world. I mean only
to say, that I am for constitutional liberty. It is enough
for me to be as free as the Constitution of the country
makes me.

Now, Gentlemen, let me say, that, as much as I respect
the character of the people of Western New York, as much
as I wish to retain their good opinion, if I should ever here-
after be placed in any situation in public life, let me tell you
now that you must not expect from me the slightest varia-
tion, even of a hair's breadth, from the Constitution of the
United States. I am a Northern man. I was born at the
North, educated at the North, have hved all ray days at the
North. I know five hundred Northern men to one South-
ern man. My sympathies, all my sympathies, my love of
liberty for all mankind, of every color, are the same as
yours. My aflTections and hopes in that respect are exactly
like yours. I wish to see all men free, all men happy. I
have few personal associations out of the Northern States.
My people are your people. And yet I am told sometimes
that I am not a friend of liberty, because I am not a Free
Soil man. What am 1 1 What was I ever 1 W^hat shall
I be hereafter, if I could sacrifice, for any consideration,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 389

that love of American liberty which has glowed in my breast
since my infancy, and which, I hope, will never leave me
till I expire ?

Gentlemen, I regret that slaveiy exists in the Southern
States ; but it is clear and certain that Congress has no
power over it. It may be, however, that, in the dispensa-
tions of Providence, some remedy for this evil may occur,
or may be hoped for hereafter. But, in the mean time, I
hold to the Constitution of the United States, and you need
never expect from me, under any circumstances, that I shall
falter from it ; that I shall be otherwise than frank and de-
cisive. I would not part with my character as a man of
firmness and decision, and honor and principle, for all that
the world possesses. You will find me true to the North,
because all my sympathies are with the North. My affec-
tions, my children, my hopes, my every tiling, are with the
North. But when I stand up before my country, as one ap-
pointed to administer the Constitution of the country, by the
blessing of God I will be just.

Gentlemen, I expect to be libelled and abused. Yes,
libelled and abused. But it does not disturb me. I have
not lost a night's rest for a great many years from any such
cause. I have some talent for sleeping. And why should I
not expect to be libelled ? Is not the Constitution of the
United States libelled and abused ? Do not some people
call it a covenant with hell ? Is not Washington libelled
and abused 1 Is he not called a bloodhound on the track
of the African negro ? Are not our fathers libelled and
abused by their own children ? And ungrateful children
they are. How, then, shall I escape 1 I do not expect to
escape ; but, knowing these things, I impute no bad motive
to any men of character and fair standing. The great set-
tlement measures of the last Congress are laws. Many
respectable men, representatives from your own State and
from other States, did not concur in them. I do not impute
any bad motive to them. I am ready to believe they are
Americans all. They may not have thought these lavi^s
necessary ; or they may have thought that they would be
enacted without their concurrence. Let all that pass away.

390 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

If they are now men who will stand by what is done, and
stand up for their country, and say that, as these lav\''s were
jiassed by a majority of the whole country, we must stand
by them and live by them, I will respect them all as friends.

Now, Gentlemen, allow me to ask of you, Wliat do you
think would have been the condition of the country, at this
time, if these laws had not been passed by the last Con-
gress ? if the question of the Texas boundary had not been
settled ? if New Mexico and Utah had been left as desert-
places, and no government had been provided for them 1
And if the other great object to which State laws had
opposed so many obstacles, the restoration of fugitives, had
not been provided for, I ask, what would have been the
state of this country now 1 You men of Erie County, you
men of New York, I conjure you to go home to-night and
meditate on this subject. What would have been the state
of this country, now, at this moment, if these laws had not
been passed ? I have given my opinion that we should have
had a civil war. I refer it to you, therefore, for your con-
sideration ; meditate on it ; do not be carried away by any
abstract notions or metaphysical ideas ; think practically on
the great question, What would have been the condition of
the United States at this moment, if we had not settled
these agitating questions ? I repeat, in my opinion, there
would have been a civil war.

Gentlemen, in this state of things, I saw that something
must be done. It was impossible to look with indifferen-ce
on a danger of so formidable a character. I am a Massa-
chusetts man, and I bore in mind what Massachusetts has
ever been to the Constitution and the Union. I felt the
importance of the duty which devolved upon one to whom
she had so long confided the trust of representing her in
either house of Congress. As I honored her, and respected
her, I felt that I was serving her in my endeavors to pro-
mote the welfare of the whole country.

And now suppose. Gentlemen, that, on the occasion in
question, I had taken a different course. If I may allude
so particularly to an individual so insignificant as myself,
tsuppose that, on the 7th of March, 1850, instead of making

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 391

a speech that would, so far as my power went, reconcile the
country, I had joined in the i^eneral clamor of the Anti-sla-
very party. Suppose I had said, " I will have nothing to
do with any accommodation ; we will admit no compromise;
we will let Texas invade New Mexico ; we will leave New
Mexico and Utah to take care of themselves ; we will plant
ourselves on the Wilmot Proviso, let the consequences be
what they may." Now, Gentlemen, I do not mean to say
that great consequences would have followed from such a
course on my part ; but suppose I had taken such a course.
How could I be blamed for it ? Was 1 not a Northern
man ? Did I not know Massachusetts feelings and preju-
dices 1 But what of that ? I am an American. I was
made a whole man, and I did not mean to make myself
half a one. I felt that I had a duty to perform to my coun-
try, to my own reputation ; for I flattered myself that a ser-
vice of forty years had given me some character, on which
I had a right to repose for my justification in the perform-
ance of a duty attended with some degree of local unpopu*
larity. 1 thought it my duty to pursue this course, and I
did not care what was to be the consequence. I felt it was
my duty, in a very alarming crisis, to come out; to go for
my country, and my whole country ; and to exert any
power I had to keep that country together. I cared for
nothing, I was afraid of nothing, but I meant to do my
duty. Duty performed makes a man happy ; duty neglected
makes a man unhappy. I therefore, in the face of all dis-
couragements and all dangers, was ready to go forth and do
what 1 thought my country, your country, demanded of me.
And, Gentlemen, allow me to say here to-day, that if the
fate of John Rogers had stared me in the face, if 1 had seen
the stake, if I had heard the fagots already crackling, by
the blessing of Almighty God 1 would have gone on and
discharged the duty which I thought my country called upon
me to perform. I would have become a martyr to save that
country.

And now, Gentlemen, farewell. Live and be happy,
live like patriots, live like Americans. Live in the enjoy-
ment of the inestimable blessings which your fathers pre-

392 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

pared for you ; and if any thing that I may do hereafter
should be inconsistent, in the slightest degree, with the opin-
ions and principles which I have this day submitted to you,
then discard me for ever from your recollection.

SPEECH TO THE YOUNG MEN OF ALBANY, N. Y.

Delivered on the 28tft of May, 1851, at the Invitation of the Young Men of Albany, in the
Public Square of the Capitol in that City,

Fellow-Citizens, — I owe the honor of this occasion,
and I esteem it an uncommon and extraordinary honor, to
the young men of this city of Albany, and it is my first duty
to express to these young men my grateful thanks for the
respect they have manifested towards me. Nevertheless,
young men of Albaby, I do not mistake you or your object,
or your purpose. I am proud to take to myself whatever
may properly belong to me, as a token of personal and po-
litical regard on your part. But I know, young men of
Albany, it is not I, but the cause; it is not I, but your own
generous attachments to your country ; it is not I, but the
Constitution of the Union, which has bound together your
ancestors and mine, and all of us, for more than half a cen-
tury,— it is this that has brought you here to-day, to testify
your regard toward one who, to the best of his humble
ability, has sustained that cause before the country. Go on,
young men of Albany ! Go on, young men of the United
States ! Early manhood is the chief prop and support, the
great reliance and hope, for the preservation of public lib-
erty and the institutions of the land. Early manhood is in-
genuous, generous, just. It looks forward to a long life of
honor or dishonor, and it means that it shall, by the blessing
of God, be a life of honor, of usefulness, and success, in
all the professions and pursuits of life, and that it shall close,
when close it must, with some claim to the gratitude of the
country. Go on, then ; uphold the institutions under which
you were born. You are manly and bold. You fear noth-
ing but to do wrong ; dread nothing but to be found recreant
to your country.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 393

Gentlemen, I certainly had no expectation of appearing
before such an assemblage as this to-day. It is not probable
that, for a long time to come, I may again address any large
m«5eting of my fellow-citizens. If I should not, and if this
should be the last, or among the last, of all the occasions on
which I am to appear before any great number of the people
of the country, I shall not regret that tfiat appearance was
here. I find myself in the political capital of the greatest,
most commercial, most powerful State of the Union. I
find myself here by the invitation of persons of the highest
respectability, without distinction of party. I consider the
occasion as somewhat, august. I know that among those
who now listen to me there are some of the wisest, the best,
the most patriotic, and the most experienced public and pri-
vate men in the State of New York. Here are governors
and ex-governors, here are judges and ex-judges, of high
character and high station ; and here are persons from all
the walks of professional and private life, distinguished for
talent, and virtue, and eminence. Fellow-citizens, before
such an assemblage, and on such an invitation, I feel bound
to guard every opinion and every expression ; to speak with
precision such sentiments as I advance, and to be careful in
all that I say, that I may not be misapprehended or misrep-
resented.

I am requested, fellow-citizens, by those who invited me,
to express my sentiments on the state of public affairs in
this country, and the interesting questions which are before
us. This proves. Gentlemen, that in their opinion there are
questions sometimes arising which range above all party,
and all the influences and considerations and interests of
party. It proves more ; it proves that, in their judgment,
this is a time in which public affairs rise in importance
above the range of party, and draw to them an interest
paramount to all party considerations. If this be not so, I
am here without object, and you are listening to me for no
purpose whatever.

Then, Gentlemen, what is the condition of public afiairs
which makes it necessary and proper for men to meet, and
confer together on the state of the country ? What are the

394 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

questions which are transcending, subduing, and overwhelm-
ing party, inciting honest, well-meaning persons to lay party
aside, and to meet and confer for the general weal ? I
shall, of course, not enter at large into many of these
questions, nor into any lengthened discussion of the state
of public affairs, but shall endeavor in general to state
what that condition is, what those questions are, and to
pronounce a conscientious judgment of my own upon the
whole.

The last Congress, fellow-citizens, passed laws called ad-
justment measures, or settlement measures; laws intended
to put an end to certain internal and domestic controversies
existing in the country, and some of which had existed for
a long time. These laws were passed by the constitutional
majorities of both houses of Congress. They received the
constitutional approbation of the President. They are the
laws of the land. To some or all of them, indeed to all of
them, at the time of their passage, there existed warm and
violent opposition. None of them passed without heated
discussion. Government was established in each of the
Territories of New Mexico and Utah, but not without oppo-
sition. The boundary of Texas was settled by compromise
with that State, but not without determined and earnest re-
sistance. These laws all passed, however, and, as they have
now become, from the nature of the case, irrepealable, it is
not necessary that I should detain you by discussing their
merits or demerits. Nevertheless, Gentlemen, I desire, on
this and all public occasions, in the clearest and most em-
phatic manner, to declare, that I hold some of these laws,
and especially that which provided for the adjustment of the
controversy with Texas, to have been essential to the pres-
ervation of the public peace.

I will not now argue that point, nor lay before you at
length the circumstances which existed at that time ; the
peculiar situation of things in so many of the Southern
States ; the fact that many of those States had adopted
measures for the separation of the Union ; or the fact that
Texas was preparing to assert her claims to territory which
New Mexico thought was hers by right, and that hundreds

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 395

and thousands of men, tired of the ordinary pursuits of pri-
vate life, were ready to rise and unite in any enterprise that
might offer itself to them, even at the risk, of a direct con-
flict with the authority of this government. I say, therefore,
without going into the argument with any detail, that in
March of 1850, when I found it my duty to address Con-
gress on these important topics, it was ray conscientious be-
lief, and it still remains unshaken, that if the controversy
with Texas could not be amicably adjusted, there must, in
all probability, be civil war and bloodshed ; and in the con-
templation of such a prospect, although we took it for
granted that no opposition could arise to the authority of the
United States that would not be suppressed, it appeared of
little consequence on which standard victory should perch.
But what of that ? I was not anxious about military conse-
quences ; I looked to the civil and political state of things,
and their results, and I inquired what would be the condition
of the country, if, in this state of agitation, if, in this vastly-
extended, though not generally-pervading feeling at the
South, war should break out and bloodshed should ensue in
that quarter of the Union ? That was enough for me to
inquire into and consider ; and if the chances had been but
one in a thousand that civil war would be the result, I should
still have felt that that one thousandth chance should be
guarded against by any reasonable sacrifice, because. Gentle-
men, sanguine as I am of the future prosperity of the coun-
try, strongly as I believe now, after what has passed, and es-
pecially after the enactment of those measures to which I
have referred, that it is likely to hold together, I yet believe
firmly that this Union, once broken, is utterly incapable, ac-
cording to all human experience, of being reconstructed in
its original character, of being receniented by any chemistry,
or art, or effort, or skill of man.

Now, then. Gentlemen, let us pass from those measures
wliich are now accomplished and settled. California is in
the Union, and cannot be got out ; the Texas boundary is
settled, and cannot be disturbed ; Utah and New Mexico
are Territories, under provision of law, according to accus-

396 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tomed usage in former cases ; and these things may be re-
garded as finally adjusted. But then there was another
subject, equally agitating and equally irritating, which, in its
nature, must always be subject to reconsideration or proposed
amendment, and that is, the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850,
passed at the same session of Congress.

Allow me to advert, very shortly, to what I consider the
ground of that law. You know, and I know, that it was
very much opposed in the Northern States ; sometimes with
argument not unfair, often by mere ebullition of party, and
often by those whirlwinds of fanaticism that raise a dust and
blind the eyes, but produce no other effect. Now, Gentle-
men, this question of the propriety of the Fugitive Slave
Law, or the enactment of some such law, is a question that
must be met. Its enemies will not let it sleep or slumber.
They will " give neither sleep to their eyes nor slumber to
their eyelids " so long as they can agitate it before the peo-
ple. It is with them a topic, a desirable topic, and all who
have much experience in political affairs know that, for party
men and in party times, there is hardly any thing so desira-
ble as a topic. Now, Gentlemen, I am ready to meet this
question. I am ready to meet it, and ready to say that it
was right, proper, expedient, and just that a suitable law
should be passed for the restoration of fugitive slaves, found
in free States, to their owners in slave States. I am ready
to say that, because I only repeat the words of the Con-
stitution itself, and I am not afraid of being considered
a plagiarist, nor a feeble imitator of other men's language
and sentiments, when I repeat and announce to every part
of the Union, to you, here, and at all times, the language
of the Constitution of my country.

Gentlemen, at the period of the Revolution, slavery ex-
isted in the Southern States, and had existed there for more
than a hundred years. We of the North were not guilty
of its introduction. That generation of men, even in the
South, were not guilty of it. It had been introduced ac-
cording to the policy of the mother country, before the
United States were independent ; indeed, before there were

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 397

any authorities in the Colonies competent to resist it. Why,
GentleQien, men's opinions have so chantred on this subject,
and properly, the world has come to hold sentiments so much
more just, that we can hardly believe, what is certainly true,
that at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, the English
government insisted on the fulfilment, to its full extent, of a
condition in the treaty of the Asiento, signed at Utrecht, in
1713, by which the Spanish government had granted tiie un-
qualified and exclusive privilege to the British government
of importing slaves into the Spanish colonies in America !
That was not then repugnant to public sentiment ; happily,
such a contract would be execrated now.

1 allude to this only to show that the introduction of sla-
very into the Southern States is not to be visited upon the
generation that achieved the independence of this country.
On the contrary, all the eminent men of that day regretted
its existence. And you, my young friends of Albany, if you
will take the pains to go back to the debates of the period,
from the meeting of the first Congress, in 1774, I mean the
Congress of the Confederation, to tlie adoption of tlie pres-
ent Constitution, and the enactment of the first laws under
it, — you, or any body who will make that necessary re-
search, will find that Southern men and Southern States, as
represented in Congress, lamented tlie existence of slavery
in far more earnest and emphatic terms than the Northern ;
for, though it did exist in the Northern States, it was a feeble
taper, just going out, soon to end, and nothing was feared
from it, while leading men of the Soutii, and especially of
Virginia, felt and acknowledged that it was a moral and po-
litical evil ; that it weakened the arm of the freeman, and
kept back the progress and success of free labor ; and they
said with truth, and all history verifies the observation, " that
if the shores of the Chesapeake had been made as free to
free labor as the shores of the North River, New York
might have been great, but Virginia would have been great
also." That was the sentiment.

Now under this state of things, Gentlemen, when the
Constitution was framed, its framers, and the people who
adopted it, came to a clear, express, unquestionable stipula-

398 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tion and compact. There had been an ancient practice, a
practice a century old, for aught I know, according to which
fugitives from service, whether apprentices at the North or
slaves at the South, should be restored. Massachusetts had
restored fugitive slaves to Virginia long before the adoption
of the Constitution, and it is well known that in other
States, in which slavery did or did not exist, they were
restored also, on proper appHcation. And it was held that
any man could pursue his slave and take him wherever he
could find him. Under this state of things, it was expressly
stipulated, in the plainest language, and there it stands, —
sophistry cannot gloss it, it cannot be erased from the page
of the Constitution ; there it stands, — that persons held to
service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, escap-
ing into another, shall not, in consequence of any law or
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor,
but shall be delivered up upon claim of the party to whom
such service or labor shall be due. This was adopted with-
out dissent ; it was nowhere objected to, North or South,
but considered as a matter of absolute right and justice to
the Southern States, and concurred in every where, by every
State that adopted the Constitution ; and we look in vain for
any opposition to it, from Massashusetts to. Georgia.

This, then, being the case, this being the provision of the
Constitution, it was found necessary, in General Washing-
ton's time, to pass a law to carry that provision of the Con-
stitution into effect. Such a law was prepared and passed.
It was prepared by a gentleman from a Northern State. It
is said to have been drawn up by Mr. Cabot, of Massachu-
setts. It was supported by him, and by Mr. Goodhue, and
by Mr. Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, and generally by all the
free States. It passed without a division in the Senate, and
with but seven votes against it in the House. It went into
operation, and for a time it satisfied the just rights and
expectations of every body. That law provided that its
enactments should be carried into effect mainly by State
magistrates, justices of the peace, judges of State courts,
sheriff's, and other organs of State authority. So things
went on, without loud complaints from any quarter, until

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 399

some fifteen years ago, when some of the States, the free
States, thought it proper to pass laws prohibiting their own
magistrates and officers from executing this law of Congress,
under heavy penalties, and refusing to the United States
authorities the use of their prisons for the detention of per-
sons arrested as fugitive slaves. That is to say, these States
passed acts defeating the law of Congress, as far as it was
in their power to defeat it. Those of them to which I refer,
not all, but several, nullified the law of 1793 entirely. They
said, in eifect, " We will not execute it. No runaway slave
shall be restored." Thus the law became a dead letter, an
entire dead letter. But here was the constitutional com-
pact, nevertheless, still binding ; here was the stipulation, as
solemn as words could form it, and which every member of
Congress, every o-fficer of the general government, every
officer of the State governments, from governors down to
constables, is sworn to support. Well, under this state of
things, in 1850, I was of opinion that common justice and
good faith called upon us to make a law, fair, reasonable,
equitable, and just, that should be calculated to carry this
constitutional provision into effect, and give the Southern
States what they were entitled to, and what it was intended
originally they should receive, that is, the fair, right, and
reasonable means to recover their fugitives from service from
the States into which they had fled. I was of opinion that
it was the bounden duty of Congress to pass such a law.
The South insisted they had a right to it, and I thought they
properly so insisted. It was no concession, no yielding of
any thing, no giving up of any thing. When called on to
fulfil a compact, the question is. Will you fulfil it 1 And,
for one, I was ready. I said, "I will fulfil it by any fair
and reasonable act of legislation."

Now, the law of 1850 had two objects, both of which
were accomplished. First, it was to make the law more
favorable for the fugitive than the law of 1793. It did so,
because it called for a record, under seal, from a court in
the State from which the fugitive came, proving the fact that
he was a fugitive, so that nothing should be left, when pur-
sued into a free State, but to produce the proof of his iden-

400 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tity. Besides this, it secured a higher tribunal, and it
placed the power in more responsible hands. The judges
of the Supreme and District Courts of the United States,
and learned persons appointed by them as commissioners,
were to see to the execution of the law. It was, accord-
ingly, a law more favorable, in all respects, to the fugitive,
than the law passed under General Washington's administra-
tion in 1793. The second object was to carry the consti-
tutional provision into effect by the authority of law, seeing
that the States had prevented the execution of the former
law.

The Constitution of the United States consists in a series
of mutual agreements or compromises, one thing being
yielded by the South, another by the North ; the general
mind having been brought together, and the whole agreed
to, as I have said, as a series of compromises constituting
one whole. Well, Gentlemen, who does not see that ? Had
the North no particular interest to be regarded and pro-
tected 1 Had the North no peculiar interest of its own ?
Was nothing yielded by the South to the North ? Gentle-
men, you are proud citizens of a great commercial State.
You know that New York ships float over the whole globe,
and bring abundance of riches to your own shores. You
know that this is the result of the commercial policy of the
United States, and of the commercial power vested in Con-
gress by tlie Constitution. And how was this commerce
established? by what constitutional provisions, and for whose
benefit 1 The South was never a commercial country. The
plantation States were never commercial. Their interest
always was, as 'they thought, what they think it to be now,
free trade, the unrestricted admission of foreigners in com-
petition in all branches of business with our own people.
But what did they dp ] They agreed to form a government
that should regulate commerce according to the wants and
wishes of the Northern States, and when the Constitution
went into operation, a comniercial system was actually estab-
lished, on which has risen up the whole glory of New York
and New England. How was this effected ? What did
Congress do under a Northern lead with Southern acquies-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 401

cence 1 What did it do 1 It protected the commerce of
New York and the Eastern States, by preference, by dis-
criminating tonnage duties ; and that higher duty on foreign
ships has never been surrendered to this day except in con-
sideration of a just equivalent ; so, in that respect, without
grudging or complaint on the part of the South, but gener-
ously and fairly, not by way of concession, but in the true
spirit of the Constitution, the commerce of New York and
the New England States was protected by the provision
of the Constitution to which I have referred. But that is
not all.

Friends ! fellow-citizens ! men of New York ! does this
country not now extend from Maine to Mexico, and be-
yond ? Have we not a State beyond Cape Horn, belong-
ing nevertheless to us as part of our commercial system 1
And what does New York enjoy 7 What do Massachu-
setts and Maine enjoy ? They enjoy an exclusive right of
carrying on the coasting trade from State to State, on the
Atlantic, and around Cape Horn to the Pacific. And that
is a highly important branch of business, and a source of
wealth and emolument, of comfort and good living. Every
man must know this, who is not blinded by passion or fanat-
icism. It is this right to the coasting trade, to the exclusion
of foreigners, thus granted to the Northern States, which
they have ever held, and of which, up to this time, there has
been no attempt to deprive them ; it is this which has em-
ployed so much tonnage and so many men, and given sup-
port to so many thous-ands of our fellow-citizens. Now
what would you say, in this day of the prevalence of notions
of free trade, — what would you say, if the South and the
South-west were to join together to repeal this law ? And
they have the votes to do it to-morrow. What would you
say if they should join hands and resolve that these men of
New York and New England, who put this slight on their
interest, shall enjoy this exclusive privilege no longer ? that
they will throw it all open, and invite the Dane, the Swede,
ihe Hamburgher, and all the commercial nations of Europe
who can carry cheaper, to come in and carry goods from
26

402 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

New York coastwise on the Atlantic, and to California, on
the Pacific ? What would you say to that ?

Gentlemen, we Hve under a Constitution. It has made
us what we are. What has carried the American fla^ all
over the world? What has constituted that "unit of com-
merce," that wherever the stars and stripes are seen, they
signify that it belongs to America and united America ?
What is it now that represents us so respectably all over
Europe ? in London at this moment, and all over the world 1
What is it but the result of those commercial regulations
which united us all together, and made our commerce the
same commerce ; which made all the States, New York,
Massachusetts, and South Carolina, in the aspect of otir for-
eign relations one and the same country, without division,
distinction, or separation ? Now, Gentlemen, to effect this
was the original design of the Constitution. We in our day
must see to it; and it will be equally incumbent on you, my
young friends of Albany, to see that, while you live, this
spirit is made to pervade the whole administration of the
government. The Constitution of the United States, to
keep us united, to keep a fraternal feeling flowing in our
hearts, must be administered in the spirit in which it was
framed.

And, Gentlemen, if I wished to convey to you an idea of
what that spirit is, I would exhibit it to you in its living,
speaking, animated form ; I would refer now and always to
the administration of the first President, George Washing-
ton. If I were now to describe a patriot President, I would
draw his masterstrokes and copy his design ; I would pre-
sent his picture before me as a constant study ; I would dis-
play his policy, alike liberal and just, narrowed down to no
sectional interests, bound to no personal objects, held to no
locality, but broad and generous and open, as expansive as
the air which is wafted by the winds of heaven from one
part of the country to another.

I would draw a picture of his foreign policy, just, steady,
stately, but withal proud, and lofty, and glorious. No man
apprehended, in his day, that the broad escutcheon of the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 403

Union could receive injury or damage, or even contumely
or disrespect, with impunity. His own character gave char-
acter to the foreign relations of the country. He upheld
every interest of the United States in even the proudest na-
tions of Europe ; and while resolutely just, he was as reso-
lutely determined that no plume in the honor of the country
should ever be defaced or moved from its proper position
by any power on earth. Washington was cautious and
prudent ; no self-seeker ; giving information to Congress, as
directed by the Constitution, on all questions, when neces-
sary, with fairness and frankness, claiming nothing for him-
self, exercising his own rights, and preserving the dignity
of his station, but taking especial care to'execute the laws
as a paramount duty, and in such manner as to give satis-
faction to all just and reasonable men. It was always re-
marked of his administration, that he filled the courts of
justice with the most spotless integrity, the highest talent,
and the purest virtue ; and hence it became a common say-
ing, running through all classes of society, that our great
security is in the learning and integrity of the judicial tribu-
nals. This high character they justly possessed, and con-
tinue to possess in an eminent degree, from the impress
which Washington stamped, on these tribunals at their first
organization.

Gentlemen, a patriot President is the guardian, the pro-
tector, the friend, of every citizen of the United States.
He should be, and he is, no man's persecutor, no man's
enemy, but the supporter and the protector of all and every
citizen, so far as such support and protection depend on his
faithful execution of the laws. But there is especially one
great idea which Washington presents, and which governed
him, and which should govern every man high in office who
means to resemble Washington ; and that is, the duty of
preserving the government itself; of suffering, so far as de-
pends on him, no one branch to interfere with another ; no
power to be assumed by any department which does not
belong to it, and none to be abandoned which does belong
to it, but to preserve it and carry it on unharmed for the
benefit of the present and future generations.

404

CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Gentlemen, a wise and prudent shipmaster makes it his
first duty to preserve the vessel which carries him, and his
passengers, and all that is committed to his charge ; to keep
her afloat, to conduct her to her destined port with entire
security of property and life. That is his first object, and
that should be, and is, the object of every chief magistrate
of the United States, who has a proper appreciation of his
duty. His first and highest duty is to preserve the Consti-
tution which bears him, which sustains the government, with-
out which every thing goes to the bottom ; to preserve that,
and keep it, with the utmost of his ability and foresight, off
the rocks and shoals, and away from the quicksands. To
accomplish this great end, he exercises the caution of the
experienced navigator. He suffers nothing to betray his
watchfulness, or to draw him aside from the great interest
committed to his care ; but is always awake, always solicit-
ous, always anxious, for the safety of the ship which is to
carry him through the stormy seas.

" Though pleased to see the dolphins play,
He minds his compass and his way;
And oft he throws the wary lead,
To see what dangers may be hid :
At helm he makes his reason sit ;
His crew of passions all submit.
Thus, thus he steers his bark, and sails,
On upright keel„ to meet the gales ! "

Now, gentlemen, a patriot President, acting from the
impulses of this high and honorable purpose, may reach
what Washington reached. He may contribute to raise
high the public prosperity, to help to fill up the measure of
his country's glory and renown. He may be able to find a
rich reward in the thankfulness of the people,

" And read his history in a nation's eyes."

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 405

DINNER AT ALBANY, N. Y.

Speech delivered at a Dinner in Mbany.

In the evening of the 28th of May, 1851, Mr. Webster was entertained
at a dinner by a large company of the most distinguished citizens of Al-
bany. Hon. John C Spencer presided at the table, and, after the cloth
was removed, addressed the company in a most interesting and eloquent
style, and concluded by saying,

" Gentlemen, I give you a sentiment which I think will be drunk in
bumpers and standing. [The whole assembly rose at once with accla-
mation.]

" The Constitution of the United States and Daniel Webster : insep-
arable now, and inseparable in the records of time and eternity."

Mr. Webster rose to respond, when the whole company greeted him
with three times three cheers. Mr. Webster spoke as follows ; —

I KNOW, Gentlemen, very well, how much of the unde-
served compliment, or I may say eulogy, which you have
heard from my honorable friend at the head of the table, is
due to a personal and political friendship which has now
continued for many years. Of course, I cannot but most
profoundly thank him for the manner in which he has ex-
pressed himself. Gentlemen, what shall I say ? What shall
I say to this outpouring of kindness ? I am overwhelmed.
I have no words. I cannot acknowledge the truth of what
has been said, yet I hardly could find it in my heart to deny
it. It is overstated. It is overstated. But that I love the
Constitution of the country ; that I have a passion for it,
the only political passion that ever entered into my breast;
that I cherish it day and niglit ; that I live on its healthful,
saving influences, and that I trust never, never, never to
cease to heed it till I go to the grave of my fathers, is as
true [turning to Mr. Spencer] as that you sit here. I do
not suppose I am born to any considerable destiny, but my
destiny, whatever it may be, attaches me to the Constitution
of the country. I desire not to outlive it. I desire to ren-
der it some service. And, on the modest stone that shall
mark my grave, whether within my native New Hampshire
or my adopted Massachusetts, I wish no other epitaph than
this: While he lived, he did what he could to support tlie
Constitution of his country. I confess to you that as to

406 CONSTITUTiONAIi TEXT BOOK.

mere questions of politics, of expediency, I have taken my
share in them, as they have gone along, in the course of
my public life, vrhicli is now fast running through. But
have felt no anxiety, no excitement ; nothing has made me
lie awake at night, when it is said honest men sleep, except
what has concerned the preservation of the Union.

The Constitution of the United States ! What is there
on the whole earth ; what is there that so fills the imagina-
tions of men under heaven ; vrhat is there that the civilized,
liberalized, liberty-loving people of the world can look at,
and do look at, so much as that great and glorious instru-
ment held up to their contemplation, blazing over this west-
ern hemisphere, and darting its rays throughout the world,
the Constitution of the United States of America ! In Mas-
sachusetts, in New York, in Washington, its ample folds
are athwart the whole heavens. Are they not seen in all
America, on all the continent of Europe, gazed at and hon-
ored in Russia, in Turkey, in the Indian seas, in all the
countries of the Oriental world ? What is it that makes
you and me here to-day, so proud as we are of the name
of America 1 What is it ? It is almost a miracle ; the
achievement of half a century, by wise men under propitious
circumstances, acting from patriotic motives ; a miracle
achieved on earth and in view of all nations ; the establish-
ment of a government, taking hold on a great continent ;
covering ample space for fifty other governments ; having
twenty-five millions of people, inteihgent, prosperous, brave,
able to defend themselves against united mankind, and to
bid defiance to the whole of them ; a noble monument of
republican honor and power, and of republican success, that
throws a shade, and sometimes a deep and black shade,
over the monarchies, and aristocracies, and despotisms of
Europe. Who is there, who is there from the poles to the
Mediterranean, despot, aristocrat, autocrat, who is there that
now dares to speak reproachfully or in tones of derogation
of the government of the United States of America ? There
is not one. And if we may judge, my friends, of the success
of our system of government from the regard it attracts
from all nations, we may flatter ourselves that in our primi-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 407

tive republicanism, in our representative system, in our de-
parture from the whole feudal code and all the prerogatives
of aristocratic and autocratic power, from all the show and
pageantry of courts, we shall hold ourselves up like the face
of the sun, not marred by inscription, but bright in glory,
and glittering in the sight of all men. And so we will
stand, so shine ; and when the time comes when I shall be
gathered to my fathers, and you to yours, that eternal, un-
fading sun of American liberty and republicanism, as steady
in its course as the sun in the heavens, shall still pour forth
his beams for the enlightenment of mankind.

Gentlemen, I again thank you for the manner in which
you have been pleased to receive the complimentary senti-
ment proposed by my friend. I thank you, thank him.
Gentlemen, I am happy to be here, in this ancient city.
Of course, I like to see my Yankee brethren here, and a
great many of them, of the ancient stock. But I have no
objection to see the recent importations, so to describe them,
come from where they may ; because I am of opinion, and
have expressed it again and again, that we have got to that
stage in our affairs, that the world has reached that point in
the system of change and innovation, that we have nothing
to do but say to the inhabitants of the ancient world, — the
Irish, the Welsh, the German, — Gentlemen, come ! and the
fact is, "the cry is still. They come!" There are people
enough imported into N©w York, twice a year, to make a
city as large as old Salem or Naumkeag in Massachusetts.
Every ship brings them to our shores, and off they start for
Wisconsin. Well, they come, and whether they come from
Dublin, Cork, or Kerry, they are very happy to stay where
they are. If they come from the North of Ireland, if they
have a little of the canny Scot in them, they still find them-
selves at home. Every steamboat brings them, and every
packet ; and when you think they are all here, " the cry is
still. They come ! " Well, we must meet this as well as we
can. Very many of them are excellent persons, and be-
come excellent citizens of the United States. I am a New
England man. I am of the Anglo-Saxon race ; but it is
my good fortune to be connected in life with a lady who

408 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

has a portion of the old Knickerbocker blood. I am happy
to know that among this company there are many persons
of Dutch descent. I honor them all, and I accord to them
credit for honesty, for sobriety of character, and for the
great aid they have lent to the growth and prosperity of
this and neighboring States.

Gentlemen, numerous and various as are the elements
of our national life, they are harmonized into one great
whole, -— the Constitution and the Union. With my dying
breath, if I have my senses, my last prayer shall be. Heaven
save my country and the Constitution ! I hear the cry of
disunion, secession. The secession of individual States, to
my mind) is the most absurd of all ideas. I should like to
know how South Carolina is to get out of this Union.
Where is she to go ? The commercial people of Charleston
say, with truth and propriety, if South Carolina secedes
from the Union, we secede from South Carolina. The thing
is absurd. A separate secession is an absurdity. It could
not take place. It must lead to war. I do, indeed, admit
the possibility that a great mass of the Southern States,
if they should come so far north as to include Virginia,
might make a Southern confederation. But it would put
Virginia up to all she knows to accomplish it. More than
half of Virginia lies on the west slope of the Alleghanies,
and is connected with the valley of the Mississippi, its people
and interests, more than with those who live on tide-water.
Do they think that the great western slope of the Allegha-
nies is to be included in a secession movement ? Never-
theless, it is a most serious consideration. All know what
would be the result of any dismemberment of this Union,
large or small. The philosophic poet tells us, that in the
frame of things above us, beneath us, and around us, there
are connections, mutual dependences and relations, which
link them together in one great chain of existences, begin-
ning from the throne on high, and running down to the
lowest order of beings. There seems to be some analogy
between this great system of the universe and our associa
tion here as separate States; independent, yet connected ,
revolving in separate spheres, and yet mutually bound one

SELECTIONS FROBI WEBSTER. 409

«

with another. What the poet says of the great chain that
holds all together in the moral, intellectual, and physical
world, is applicahle to the bond which unites the States : — <

*' Whatever link you strike,
Tenth, or ten thousandth, breaks the chain alike."

Now, Gentlemen, it is not for me to do much more, nor
attempt much more, on this theatre of action. I look on to
see what others shall do, and especially to see what the rising
generation shall do. I look on to see what the young men
of the country are determined to do. I see them intelligent,
regardless of personal objects, holding on upon what their an-
cestors gave them, holding on with their whole strength to the
institutions of the country. I know that, when I shall slum-
ber in the dust, the institutions of the country will be free
and safe ; I know that the young men of the country can
preserve the country. In the language of the old Greek
orator, " The young are the spring time of the people." I
wish to leave my exhortation to the young men all over the
country ; to say to them, On you, young men of the repub-
lic, the hopes, the independence, the Union, the honor of
the country, entirely depend. May God bless you ! In
taking leave of you, whilst I shall never forget the pleasure
this occasion has given me, I give you as a sentiment : —

" The young men of Albany, the young men of this gen-
eration and of the succeeding generations : may they live
for ever, but may the Constitution and the Union outlive
them all."

. ♦

THE ADDITION TO THE CAPITOL.

Address delivered at the Laying of the Comer Stone of the Addition to the Capitol, on tht

4th of July, 1851.

Fellow-Citizens, — I greet you well ; I give you joy, on
the return of this anniversary ; and I felicitate you, also, on
the more particular purpose of which this ever-memorable
day has been chosen to witness the fulfilment. Hail ! all
hail ! I see before and around me a mass of faces, glowing
with cheerfulness and patriotic pride. I see thousands of
eyes turned towards other eye«, all sparkling with gratifica-

410 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

tion and delight. This is the New World ! This is Amer
ica ! This is Washington ! and this the Capitol of the
United States ! And where else, among the nations, can
the seat of government be surrounded, on any day of any
year, by those who have more reason to rejoice in the bless-
ings which they possess 1 Nowhere, fellow-citizens ! assur-
edly nowhere ! Let us, then, meet this rising sun with joy
and thanksgiving !

This is that day of the year which announced to mankind
the great fact of American Independence. This fresh and
brilliant morning blesses our vision with another beholding
of the birthday of our nation ; and we see that nation, of
recent origin, now among the most considerable and power-
ful, and spreading over the continent from sea to sea.

Among the first colonists from Europe to this part of
America, there were some, doubtless, who contemplated the
distant consequences of their undertaking, and who saw a
great futurity. But, in general, their hopes were limited to
the enjoyment of a safe asylum from tyranny, religious and
civil, and to respectable subsistence, by industry and toil. A
thick veil hid our times from their view. But the progress
of America, however slow, could not but at length awaken
genius, and attract the attention of mankind.

In the early part of the second century of our history,
Bishop Berkeley, who, it will be remembered, had resided
for some time in Newport, in Rhode Island, wrote his well-
known "Verses on the Prospect of planting Arts and
Learning in America." The last stanza of this little
poem seems to have been produced by a high poetical inspi-
ration : —

" "Westward the course of empire takes its way ;
The four first acts already past,
A fifth shall close the drama with the day :
Time's noblest offspring is the last."

This extraordinary prophecy may be considered only as
the result of long foresight and uncommon sagacity ; of a
foresight and sagacity stimulated, nevertheless, by excited
feeling and high enthusiasm. So clear a vision of what
America would become was not founded on square miles, or

SELECTIONS FR03I WEBSTER. 411

on existing numbers, or on any common laws of statistics.
It was an intuitive glance into futurity; it was a grand con-
ception, strong, ardent, glowing, embracing all time since
the creation of the world, and all regions of which that
world is composed, and judging of the future by just anal-
ogy with the past. And the inimitable imagery and beauty
with which the thought is expressed, joined to the concep-
tion itself, render it one of the most striking passages in our
language.

On the day of the declaration of independence our illus-
trious fathers performed the first scene in the last great act
of this drama; one in real importance infinitely exceeding
that for which the great English poet invokes

"A muse of fire,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act,
And monarchs to beliold the swelling scene ! "

The Muse inspiring our fathers was the Genius of Lib-
erty, all on fire with a sense of oppression, and a resolution
to throw it off; the whole world was the stage, and higher
characters than princes trod it ; and, instead of monarchs,
countries and nations and the age beheld the swelling scene.
How well the characters were cast, and how well each acted
his part, and what emotions the whole performance excited,
let history, now and hereafter, tell.

At a subsequent period, but before the declaration of
independence, the Bishop of St. Asaph published a dis-
course, in which the following remarkable passages are
found : —

" It is difficult for man to look into the destiny of future ages ; the de-
signs of Providence are vast and complicated, and our own jDowers are too
narrow to admit of much satisfaction to our curiosity. But when we see
many great and powerful causes constantly at work, we cannot doubt of
their producing proportionable effects.

" The colonies in North America have not only taken root and ac-
quired strength, hut seem hastening with an accelerated progress to such a
powerful state as may introduce a new and important char.ge in human affairs.

" Descended from ancestors of the most improved and enlightened
part of the Old World, they receive, as it were by inheritance, all the
improvements and discoveries of their mother country. And it happens
fortunately for them to commence their flourishing state at a time when

412 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the human understanding has attained to the free use of its powers, and
has learned to act with vigor and certainty. They may avail themselves,
not only of the experience and industry, but even of the errors and mis-
takes, of former days. Let it be considered for how many ages a great
part of the world appears not to have thought at all ; how many more
they have been busied in forming systems and conjectures, while reason
has been lost in a labyrinth of words, and they never seem to have sus-
pected on what frivolous matters their minds were employed.

" And let it be well understood what rapid improvements, what impor-
tant discoveries, have been made, in a few years, by a few countries, with
our own at their head, which have at last discovered the right method of
using their faculties.

" May we not reasonably expect that a number of provinces possessed
of these advantages and quickened by mutual emulation, with only the
common progress of the human mind, should very considerably enlarge
the boundaries of science ?

" The vast continent itself, over which they are gradually spreading,
may be considered as a treasure yet untouched of natural productions
that shall hereafter afford ample matter for commerce and contempla-
tion. And if we reflect what a stock of knowledge may be accumulated
by the constant progress of industry and observation, fed with fresh sup-
plies from the stores of nature, assisted sometimes by those happy
strokes of chance which mock all the powers of invention, and some-
times by those superior characters which arise occasionally to instruct
and enlighten the world, it is difficult even to imagine to what height of
improvement their discoveries may extend.

" And perhaps thei/ maij make as considerable advances in the arts of civil
government and the conduct af life. "We have reason to be proud, and
even jealous, of our excellent constitution ; but those equitable principles
on which it was formed, an equal representation, (the best discovery of
political wisdom,) and a just and commodious distribution of power
which with us were the price of civil wars, and the rewards of the virtues
and sufferings of our ancestors, descend to them as a natural inheritance,
without toil or pain.

" But must they rest here^ as in the utmost effort of human genius ? Can
chance and time, the wisdom and the experience of public men, suggest no
new remedy against the evils which vices and ambition are perpetually apt
to cause? May they not hope, without presumption, to preserve a
greater zeal for piety and public devotion than we have done ? For
sure it can hardly happen to them, as it has to lis, that when religion is
best understood and rendered most pure and reasonable, then should be
the precise time when many cease to believe and practise it, and all in
general become most indifferent to it.

" May they not possibly be more successful than their njother country

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 413

has been in preserving that reverence and authority which are due to the
laws 1 to those who make, and to those who execute them ? 31ay not a
method be invented of procuring some tolerable share of the comforts of life
to those inferior useful ranks of men to whose industry we are indebted for the
whole'? Time and discipline may discover some means to correct the extreme
inequalities of condition between the rich and the poor, so dangerous to the
innocence and happiness of both. They may fortunately be led by habit
and choice to despise that luxury which is considered with us the true
enjoyment of wealth. They may have little relish for that ceaseless
hurry of amusements which is pursued in this country without pleasure,
exercise, or employment. And perhaps, after trying some of our follies
and caprices, and rejecting the rest, they may be led by reason and ex-
periment to that old simplicity which was first pointed out by nature,
and has produced those models which we still admire in arts, eloquence,
and manners. The diversity of neiv scenes and situations, which so many
growing states must necessarily pass through, may introduce changes in the
fluctuating opinions and manners of men which we can form no conception
of; and not only the gracious disposition of Providence, but the visible
preparation of causes, seems to indicate strong tendencies towards a
general improvement."

Fellow-citizens, this " gracious disposition of Providence,"
and this " visible preparation of causes," at length brought
on the hour for decisive action. 'On the 4th of July, 1776,
the Representatives of the United States of America, in
Congress assembled, declared that these United Colonies
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent
States.

This declaration, made by most patriotic and resolute
men, trusting in the justice of their cause and the protection
of Heaven, and yet made not without deep solicitude and
anxiety, has now stood for seventy-five years, and still stands.
It was sealed in blood. It has met dangers, and overcome
them ; it has had enemies, and conquered them ; it has had
detractors, and abashed them all ; it has had doubting
friends, but it has cleared all doubts away; and now, to-day,
raising its august form higher than the clouds, twenty-five
millions of people contemplate it with hallowed love, and the
world beholds it, and the consequences which have followed
from it, with profound admiration.

This anniversary animates and gladdens and unites all
American hearts. On other days of the year we may be

414 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

party men, indulging in controversies, more or less impor-
tant to the public good ; we may have likes and dislikes,
and we may maintain our political differences, often with
warm, and sometimes with angry feelings. But to-day we
are Americans all ; and all nothing but Americans. As the
great luminary over our heads, dissipating mists and fogs,
now cheers the whole hemisphere, so do the associations
connected with this day disperse all cloudy and sullen
weather in the minds and hearts' of true Americans. Every
man's heart swells within him ; every man's port and bear-
ing become somewhat more proud and lofty, as he remem-
bers that seventy-five years have rolled away, and that the
great inheritance of liberty is still his ; his, undiminished
and unimpaired ; his in all its original glory ; his to enjoy,
his to protect, and his to transmit to future generations.

Fellow-citizens, this inheritance which we enjoy to-day is
not only an inheritance of liberty, but of our own pecuHar
American liberty. Liberty has existed in other times, in
other countries, and in other forms. There has been a Gre-
cian liberty, bold and powerful, full of spirit, eloquence, and
fire ; a liberty which produced multitudes of great men, and
has transmitted one immortal name, the name of Demos-
thenes, to posterity. But still it was a liberty of discon-
nected states, sometimes united, indeed, by temporary
leagues and confederacies, but often involved in wars be-
tween themselves. The sword of Sparta turned its sharpest
edge against Athens, enslaved her, and devastated Greece ;
and, in her turn, Sparta was compelled to bend before the
power of Thebes. And let it ever be remembered, espe-
cially let the truth sink deep into all American minds, that it
was the want of union among her several states which
finally gave the mastery of all Greece to Philip of Macedon.

And there has also been a Roman liberty, a proud, ambi-
tious, domineering spirit, professing free and popular princi-
ples in Rome itself, but, even in the best days of the republic,
ready to carry slavery and chains into her provinces, and
through every country over which her eagles could be borne.
What was the liberty of Spain, or Gaul, or Germany, or
Britain, in the days of Rome ? Did true constitutional lib-

I

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 415

erty then exist ? As the Roman empire declined, her prov-
inces, not instructed in the principles of free popular gov-
ernment, one after another declined also, and when Rome
herself fell, in the end, all fell together.

I have said. Gentlemen, that our inheritance is an inherit-
ance of American liherty. That liberty is characteristic,
peculiar, and altogether our own. Nothing like it existed
in former times, nor was known in the most enlightened
states of antiquity ; while with us its principles have be-
come interwoven into the minds of individual men, con-
nected with our daily opinions, and our daily habits, until
it is, if I may so say, an element of social as well as of
political life ; and the consequence is, that to whatever re-
gion an American citizen carries himself, he takes with him,
fully developed in his own understanding and experience,
our American principles and opinions, and becomes ready
at once, in cooperation with others, to apply them to the
formation of new governments. Of this a most wonderful
instance may be seen in the history of the State of Cali-
fornia.

Fellow-citizens, by the act of "Congress of the 30th of
September, 1850, provision was made for the extension of
the Capitol, according to such plan as might be approved
by the President of the United States, and for the necessary
sums to be expended, under his direction, by such architect
as he might appoint. This measure was imperatively de-
manded, for the use of the legislative and judiciary depart-
ments, the public libraries, the occasional accommodation of
the chief executive magistrate, and for other objects. No
act of Congress incurring a large expenditure has received
more general approbation from the people. The President
has proceeded to execute this law. He has approved a
plan ; he has appointed an architect ; and all things are now
ready for the commencement of the work.

The anniversary of national independence appeared to
afford an auspicious occasion for laying the foundation stone
of the additional building. That ceremony has now been
performed by the President himself, in the presence and
view of this multitude. He has thought that the day and

416 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

the occasion made a united and imperative call for some
short address to the people here assembled ; and it is at his
request that I have appeared before you to perform that part
of the duty which was deemed incumbent on us.

Beneath the stone is deposited, among other things, a list
of which will be published, the following brief account of
the proceedings of this day, in my handwriting:—^

• ^^ &71 ^ne ona^ntna 0/ m.e ^t/id^ day- c/ m.e

^C/^'?zUed tJiale^ 0/ <ty^?}Z6itcay in /die cUu c/
ffadfiC'na/on'y ^etma /ne A-ln, da'u 0/ /-ul^^ ^/ 86 ^ ^
//li'd <}^lane, dedtaned ad /^ne cozne^ ^ilone 0/ /ne ex=
/endWTi 0/ Ine ^aJiilot^. acca^dtna /<? a fium €iJi=
^o^&ved i^u l/ie ^ zedtdenl, m ^f^a^daance 0/ an
ac/ ei^ ^ana^eddy ii/ad laid t^u

MILLARD FILLMORE,

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

a^dM'ted i^u Ine ^za^nd iym>a<!>le'd e/ /ne fyf&adontc
.^Lodaed^ m Ifte- ^^edcnce 0/ manu 'y?^e9n^e^d 0/
JOOTia^edd, <?/ o//cce^d 0/ ^e €>cc€ctiiive and /m'=
dwca^u ^0 efia^lmen^ y ^yyalwnaij i/^a/e^ and
^2)c4lz{c/j 0/ c/jucezd 0/ /die a^jnu and nai/u^ /ne
caz^o^ale atilnoii/ted <?/ /utd and neiqA-aa^t/na ci/iedj
^nany addoeia/iand , ctv^w aynd miti/azu and '?nadon=
u>^ memt^ezd 0/ lAe ^mt^iiidontan J'ndli/u/con and
tyYcUiona't J^nd/UcUe^ ^lo/eddozd o^ coi^eaed and

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 417

d^cidenld ana ft-afit^d, ana a vad^ concoa^de o/ ^oeo=
fole /zam ^luzced neaz a?ia ^e77zoie^ {/nolaa&na a
/et{/ aiu/iiievihta aenltemen tc/na ufUne^dea ^ne la'?i'=
tna 0/ ■ine caznez dlane ojf Ine Saf/^Uo-v /^ ^ ze4i=
aenl ''rr a^nonalon ^ on Ine ^ O^n dau o/ <LyeA^e9n=

A, U. ^. ^yc/s.

0/ ^^/}d Inaf ^n(^'j ^liac^ate <!^nalc /a€'0 ^tom ild
t^a^e^ m^a/: Ud /oandalcon i^e aAlazned, and ^fii,d
de^odc^ i^zaaanl ^ &/ie ened o/ ^me^z^ ve il 'tAen
Anou/n^ ^al on l/icd dati' Ifie ^O&ncon o/ l/ie
^l&nt^ed 'tdtaled o/ ^^meicca diandd /t/im, Inal
M^et/i &07t4U^le'an dloi'C excdld icnt7nAa('iedy and
ti/l^ a/'O tld ozcatna^ ade/alnedd and aio^'U ;
atoiatna evezu dau d^zonqez and dlton^ez tn lAe
a//eclw-nd of ^ne azeal '{/od?/- c/ Ine vy^mezican fieo=
^ct'C^ and a^^acU?ia tno'ie and '?noi6 lue ad}nl^alco'?^
o^ ^ne ti/oZ'Cd. ty^nd a-^o Aeze a4d6n7At'ed^ tf/neluei>
SeionatMa ^o ^00 mw ^i/e oz ^o ^it(/i}a^6 ^(^fe. ti/tl^
U6azi4 denoai'Ou iAan^fot^ lo ^^l^ntanl?^ ^'od ^oz
//Ue ^zedezi'ayiton o/ m^e -vot^ezlu and AaM^cnedd ojt l/ie
coa7i^u ant^e m dtnceie and j^ezvenl ^ta/uetd m^^

l-ncd defiodfk^j and tne tt/adM and a/icned, me doomed-

27

418 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and ^awe^4j '^■£0 caiamnd ana entatiia'tii^ed ^ now i&
ve eifecled oi>e^ U^ 'may enaaze 40^ e'ue^ /

^^ ^oa 4av^e ^ne ^l&nUed ft/la^d o^ <ty^meitca /

<^ Stance/ "WU^^e^,

Fellow-citizens, fifty-eight years ago Washington stood on
this spot to execute a duty like that which has now been
performed. He then laid the corner stone of the original
Capitol. He was at the head of the government, at that
time weak in resources, burdened with debt, just struggling'
into political existence and respectability, and agitated by
the heaving waves which were overturning European thrones.
But even then, in many important respects, the government
was strong. It was strong in Washington's own great char-
acter ; it was strong in the wisdom and patriotism of other
eminent public men, his political associates and fellow-labor-
ers ; and it was strong in the affections of the people.

The extension of territory embraced within the United
States, increase of its population, commerce, and manufac-
tures, development of its resources by canals and railroads,
and rapidity of intercommunication by means of steam and
electricity, have all been accomplished without overthrow of,
or danger to, the public liberties, by any assumption of mili-
tary power ; and, indeed, without any permanent increase
of the army, except for the purpose of frontier defence, and
of affording a slight guard to the public property ; or of
the navy, any further than to assure the navigator that, in
whatsoever sea he shall sail his ship, he is protected by the
stars and stripes of his country. This, too, has been done
without the shedding of a drop of blood for treason or re-
bellion ; while systems of popular representation have regu-
larly been supported in the State governments and in the
general government ; while laws, national and State, of such
a character have been passed, and have been so wisely ad-
ministered, that I may stand up here to-day, and declare, as

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 419

I now do declare, in the face of all the intelligent of the
age, that, for the period which has elapsed from the day
that Washington laid the foundation of this Capitol to the
present time, there has been no country upon earth in which
life, liberty, and property have been more amply and steadily
secured, or more freely enjoyed, than in these United States
of America. Who is there that will deny this? Who is
there prepared with a greater or a better example ? Who
is there that can stand upon the foundation of facts, acknowl-
edged or proved, and assert that these our republican insti-
tutions have not answered the true ends of government
beyond all precedent in human history 1

There is yet another view. There are still higher con-
siderations. Man is an intellectual being, destined to im-
mortality. There is a spirit in him, and the breath of the
Almighty hath given him understanding. Then only is he
tending toward his own destiny, while he seeks for knowl-
edge and virtue, for the will of his Maker, and for just con-
ceptions of his own duty. Of all important questions,
therefore, let this, the most important of all, be first asked
and first answered : In what country t)f the habitable globe,
of great extent and large population, are the means of
knowledge the most generally diffused and enjoyed among
the people ? This question admits of one, and only one,
answer. It is here ; it is here in these United States ; it is
among the descendants of those who settled at Jamestown ;
of those who were pilgrims on the shore of Plymouth ; and
of those other races of men, who, in subsequent times, have
become joined in this great American family. Let one fact,
incapable of doubt or dispute, satisfy every mind on this
point. The population of the United States is twenty-five
millions. Now, take the map of the continent of Europe
and spread it out before you. Take your scale and your
dividers, and lay off* in one area, in any shape you please, a
triangle, square, circle, parallelogram, or trapezoid, and of
an extent that shall contain one hundred and fifty millions
of people, and there will be found within the United States
more persons who do habitually read and write than can be
embraced within the lines of your demarcation.

420 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

But there is something' even more than this. Man is not
only an intellectual, but he is also a religious being, and his
religious feeUngs and habits require cultivation. Let the
religious element in man's nature be neglected, let him be
influenced by no higher motives than low self-interest, and
subjected to no stronger restraint than the limits of* civil
authority, and he becomes the creature of selfish passion or
blind fanaticism.

The spectacle of a nation powerful and enhghtened, but
without Christian faith, has been presented, almost within
our own day, as a warning beacon for the nations.

On the other hand, the cultivation of the religious senti-
ment represses licentiousness, incites to general benevolence
and the practical acknowledgment of the brotherhood of
man, inspires respect for law and order, and gives strength
to the whole social fabric, at the same time that it conducts
the human soul upward to the Author of its being.

Now, I think it may be stated with truth, that in no coun-
try, in proportion to its population, are there so many be-
nevolent estabhshments connected with religious instruction,
Bible, Missionary, and Tract Societies, supported by public
and private contributions, as in our own. There are also
institutions for the education of the blind, of idiots, of the
deaf and dumb ; for the reception of orphan and destitute
children, and the insane ; for moral reform, designed for
children and females respectively ; and institutions for the
reformation of criminals ; not to speak of those numer-
ous establishments, in almost every county and town in the
United States, for the reception of the aged, infirm, and
destitute poor, many of whom have fled to our shores to
escape the poverty and wretchedness of their condition at
home.

In the United States there is no church establishment or
ecclesiastical authority founded by government. Publio
worship is maintained either by voluntary associations and
contributions, or by trusts and donations of a charitable
origin.

Now, I think it safe to say, that a greater portion of the
people of the United States attend public worship, decently

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 421

clad, well behaved, and well seated, than of any other coun-
try of the civilized world. Edifices of religion are seen
every where. Their aggregate cost would amount to an
immense sum of money. They are, in general, kept in
good repair, and consecrated to the purposes of public wor-
ship. In these edifices the people regularly assemble on
the Sabbath day, which, by all classes, is sacredly set apart
for rest from secular employment and for religious medita-
tion and worship, to listen to the reading of the Holy Scrip-
tures, and discourses from pious ministers of the several
denominations.

This attention to the wants of the intellect and of the
soul, as manifested by the voluntary support of schools and
colleges, of churches and benevolent institutions, is one of
the most remarkable characteristics of the American people,
not less strikingly exhibited in the new than in the older
settlements of the country. On the spot where the first
trees of the forest were felled, near the log cabins of the
pioneers, are to be seen rising together the church and the
school house. So has it been from the beginning, and God
grant that it may thus continue !

" On other shores, above their mouldering towns,
In sullen pomp, the tall cathedral frowns ;
Simple and frail, our lowly temples throw
Their slender shadows on the paths below ;
Scarce steal the winds, that sweep the woodland tracks,
The larch's perfume from the settler's axe,
Ere, like a vision of the morning air.
His slight-framed steeple marks the house of prayer.
Yet faith's pure hymn, beneath its shelter rude,
Breathes out as sweetly to the tangled wood,
As where the rays through blazing oriels pour
On marble shaft and tessellated floor."

Who does not admit that this unparalleled growth in
prosperity and renown is the result, under Providence, of
the union of these States under a general Constitution,
which guaranties to each State a republican form of govern-
ment, and to every man the enjoyment of life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness, free from civil tyranny or ecclesi-
astical domination ?

422 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

And, to bring home this idea to the present occasion,
who does not feel that, when President Washington laid his
hand on the foundation of the first Capitol, he performed a
great work of perpetuation of the Union and the Constitu-
tion 1 Who does not feel that this seat of the general gov-
ernment, healthful in its situation, central in its position,
near the mountains whence gush springs of wonderful virtue,
teeming with Nature's richest products, and yet not far from
the bays and the great estuaries of the sea, easily accessible
and generally agreeable in climate and association, does
give strength to the union of these States ? that this city,
bearing an immortal name, with its broad streets and ave-
nues, its public squares and magnificent edifices of the gen-
eral government, erected for the purpose of carrying on
within them the important business of the several depart-
ments, for the reception of wonderful and curious inven-
tions, for the preservation of the records of American learn-
ing and genius, of extensive collections of the products of
nature and art, brought hither for study and comparison
from all parts of the world ; adorned with numerous
churches, and sprinkled over, I am happy to say, with many
public schools, where all the children of the city, without
distinction, have the means of obtaining a good education ;
and with academies and colleges, professional schools and
public libraries, should continue to receive, as it has hereto-
fore received, the fostering care of Congress, and should be
regarded as the permanent seat of the national government 1
Here, too, a citizen of the great republic of letters,* a re-
public which knows not the metes and bounds of political
geography, has prophetically indicated his conviction that
America is to exercise a wide and powerful influence in the
intellectual world, by founding in this city, as a commanding
position in the field of science and literature, and placing
under the guardianship of the government, an institution
" for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

With each succeeding year new interest is added to the
spot ; it becomes connected with all the historical associa*

* Hugh Smithson, whose munificent bequest has been applied to the
foundation of " The Smithsonian Institution."

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 423

tions of our country, with her statesmen and her orators,
and, alas ! its cemetery is annually enriched by the ashes
of her chosen sons.

Before us is the broad and beautiful river, separating two
of the original thirteen States, which a late President, a
man of determined purpose and inflexible will, but patriotic
heart, desired to span with arches of ever-enduring granite,
symbolical of the firmly-cemented union of the North and
the South. That President was General Jackson.

On its banks repose the ashes of the Father of his Coun-
try, and at our side, by a singular felicity of position, over-
looking the city which he designed, and which bears his
name, rises to his memory the marble column, sublime in its
simple grandeur, and fitly intended to reach a loftier height
than any similar structure on the surface of the whole earth.

Let the votive offerings of his grateful countrymen be
freely contributed to carry this monument higher and still
higher. May I say, as on another occasion, " Let it rise ;
let it rise till it meet the sun in his coming ; let the earliest
light of the morning gild it, and parting day linger and play
on its summit ! "

Fellow-citizens, what contemplations are awakened in our
minds as we assemble here to reenact a scene like that per-
formed by Washington ! Methinks I see his venerable
form now before me, as presented in the glorious statue by
Houdon, now in the Capitol of Virginia. He is dignified
and grave ; but concern and anxiety seem to soften the
lineaments of his countenance. The government over which
he presides is yet in the crisis of experiment. Not free
from troubles at home, he sees the world in commotion and
in arms all around him. He sees that imposing foreign
powers are half disposed to try the strength of the recently
established American government. We perceive that mighty
thoughts, mingled with fears as well as with hopes, are strug-
gling within him. He heads a short procession over these
then naked fields ; he crosses yonder stream on a fallen tree ;
he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose original oaks
of the forest stand as thick around him as if the spot had
been devoted to Druidical worship, and here he performs the
appointed duty of the day.

434 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

And now, fellow-citizens, if this vision were a reality; if
Washington actually were now amongst us, and if he could
draw around him the shades of the great public men of his
own day, patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen, and
were to address us in their presence, would he not say to
us: "Ye men of this generation, I rejoice and thank God
for being able to see that our labors and toils and sacrifices
were not in vain. You are prosperous, you are happy, you
are grateful ; the fire of liberty burns brightly and steadily
in your hearts, while duty and the law restrain it from
bursting forth in wild and destructive conflagration. Cher-
ish liberty, as you love it ; cherish its securities, as you
wish to preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which we
labored so painfully to establish, and which has been to you
such a source of inestimable blessings. Preserve the union
of the States, cemented as it was by our prayers, our tears,
and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, and to
your duty. So shall the whole Eastern world follow the
morning sun to contemplate you as a nation ; so shall
all generations honor you, as they honor us ; and so shall
that Almighty Power which so graciously protected us, and
which now protects you, shower its everlasting blessings
upon you and your posterity."

Great Father of your Country ! we heed your words ; we
feel their force as if you now uttered them with lips of flesh
and blood. Your example teaches us, your affectionate ad-
dresses teach us, your public life teaches us, your sense of
the value of the blessings of the Union. Those blessings our
fathers have tasted, and we have tasted, and still taste. Nor
do we intend that those who come after us shall be denied
the same high fruition. Our honor as well as our happiness
is concerned. We cannot, we dare not, we will not, betray
our sacred trust. We will not filch from posterity the treas-
ure placed in our hands to be transmitted to other genera-
tions. The bow that gilds the clouds in the heavens, the
pillars that uphold the firmament, may disappear and fall
away in the hour appointed by the will of God ; but unti/
that day comes, or so long as our lives may last, no ruthless
hand shall undermine that bright arch of Union and Liberty
which spans the Continent from Washington to California.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 425

Fellow-citizens, we must sometimes be tolerant to folly,
and patient at the sight of the extreme waywardness of men ;
but I confess that, when I reflect on the renown of our past
history, on our present prosperity and greatness, and on what
the future hatii yet to unfold, and when I see that there are
men who can find in all this nothing good, nothing valua-
ble, nothing truly glorious, I feel that all their reason has
fled away from them, and left the entire control over their
judgment and their actions to insanity and fanaticism ; and
more than all, fellow-citizens, if the purposes of fanatics and
disunionists should be accomplished, the patriotic and intelli-
gent of our generation would seek to hide themselves from the
scorn of the world, and go about to find dishonorable graves.

Fellow-citizens, take cowra^e; he of good cheer. We shall
come to no such ignoble end. We shall live, and not die.
During the period allotted to our several lives, we shall con-
tinue to rejoice in the return of this anniversary. The ill-
omened sounds of fanaticism will be hushed ; the ghastly
spectres of Secession and Disunion will disappear, and the
enemies of united constitutional liberty, if their hatred can-
not be appeased, may prepare to have their eyeballs seared
as they behold the steady flight of the American eagle, on
his burnished wings, for years and years to come.

President Fillmore, it is your singularly good fortune to
perform an act such as that which the earliest of your pred-
ecessors performed fifty-eight years ago. You stand where
lie stood ; you lay your hand on the corner stone of a build-
ing designed greatly to extend that whose corner stone he
laid. Changed, changed is every thing around. The same
sun, indeed, shone upon his head which now shines upon
yours. The same broad river rolled at his feet, and bathes
his last resting-place, that now rolls at yours. But the site
of this city was then mainly an open field. Streets and ave-
nues have since been laid out and completed, squares and
public grounds enclosed and ornamented, until the city which
bears his name, although comparatively inconsiderable in
numbers and wealth, has become quite fit to be the seat of
government of a great and united people.

Sir, may the consequences of the duty which you per-

426 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

form so auspiciously to-day equal those which flowed from
his act. Nor this only ; may the principles of your admin-
istration, and the wisdom of your political conduct, be such,
as that the world of the present day, and all history here-
after, may be at no loss to perceive what example you have
made your study.

And now, fellow-citizens, with hearts void of hatred, envy,
and malice towards our own countrymen, or any of them,
or towards the subjects or citizens of other governments, or
towards any member of the great family of man ; but ex-
ulting, nevertheless, in our own peace, security, and happi-
ness, in the grateful remembrance of the past, and the
glorious hopes of the future, let us return to our homes, and
with all humility and devotion of^er our thanks to the Father
of all our mercies, political, social, and religious.

TO MESSRS. JOHN HAVEN AND OTHERS, OF PORTSMOUTH,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Washington, January 3, 1844.

Gentlemen, — I have received your letter requesting
permission to present my name to the people as a candidate
for the office of President of the United States, subject to
the future wise, delil^erate action of the Whig National Con-
vention of 1844.

It would be disingenuous to withhold an expression of the
grateful feelings awakened by a letter, containing such a
request, so very numerously signed, and coming from among
those who have known me through life. No one can be
insensible to the distinction of being regarded by any re-
spectable number of his fellow-citizens as among those from
whom a choice of President might be made with honor and
safety to the country. The office of President is an office,
the importance of which cannot be too highly estimated.
He who fills it necessarily exercises a great influence, not
only on all the domestic interests of the country, on its for-
eign relations, and the support of its honor and character
among the nations of the earth, but on that which is of the

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 427

very highest import to the happiness of the people, the main-
tenance of the Constitution itself, and the prosperous con-
tinuance of tiie government under it.

Our systems are pecuHar ; and while capable, as experi-
ence has shown, of producing the most favorable results,
under a wise and cautious administration, they are, never-
theless, exposed to peculiar dangers.

We have six and twenty States, each possessing within
itself powers of government, limited only by the Constitu-
tion of the United States; and we have a general govern-
ment, to which are confided high trusts, to be exercised for
the benefit of the people of all the States. It is obvious
that this division of powers, itself the result of a novel and
most delicate political operation, can be preserved only by
the exercise of wisdom and pure patriotism. The Consti-
tution of the United States stands on the basis of the peo-
ple's choice. It must remain on that basis so long as it
remains at all. The veneration and- love which are enter-
tained for it will be increased by every instance of wise,
prudent, impartial, and parental administration.

On the other hand, they will be diminished by every
administration which shall cherish local divisions, devote
itself to local interests, seek to bend the influence of the
government to personal or partisan purposes, or which
shall forget that all patriotism is false and spurious which
does not look with equal eye to the interests of the whole
country, and all its parts, present and to come. I hardly
know what an American statesman should so much deprecate,
on his own account, as well as on account of his country, as
that the Constitution of the United States, now the glory of
our country and the admiration of the world, should become
weakened in its foundations, perverted in its principles, or
fallen and sunk in a nation's regard and a nation's hopes, by
his own follies, errors, or mistakes. The Constitution was
made for the good of the country ; this the people know.
Its faithful administration promotes that good ; this the
people know. The people will themselves defend it against
all foreign powers, and all open force, and they will right-
fully hold to a just and solemn account those to whom they

428 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

may commit it, and in whose hands it shall be found to be
shorn of a single beam of its honor, or deprived of a par-
ticle of its capacity for usefulness. It was made for an
honest people, and they expect it to be honestly administered.
At the present moment, it is an object of general respect,
confidence, and aifection. Questions have arisen, however,
and are likely to arise again, upon the extent of its powers,
or upon the line which separates the functions of tlie general
government from those of the State governments ; and these
questions will require, whenever they may occur, not only
firmness, but much discretion, prudence, and impartiahty, at
the hand of the national executive. Extreme counsels or ex-
treme opinions on either side would be very likely, if followed
or adopted, to break up the well-adjusted balance of the
whole. And he who has the greatest confidence in his own
judgment, or the strongest reliance on his own good fortune,
may yet be well diffident of his ability to discharge the duties
of his trust in such a manner as shall prevent the public
prosperity, or advance his own reputation.

But, Gentlemen, while the office of President is quite too
high to be sought by personal solicitation, or for private ends
and objects, it is not to be declined, if proffered by the vol-
untary desire of a free people.

It is now more than thirty years since you and your fel-
low-citizens of New Hampshire assigned me a part in po-
litical affairs. My public conduct since that period is known.
My opinions on the great questions now most interesting to
the country are well known. The constitutional principles
which I have endeavored to maintain are also known. If
these principles and these opinions, now not likely to be
materially changed, should recommend me to further marks
of public regard and confidence, I should not withhold my-
self from compliance with the general will.

But I have no pretensions of my own to bring forward,
and trust that no friends of mine would, at any time, use
my name for the purpose of preventing harmony among
those whose general political opinions concur, or for
any cause whatever but a conscientious regard to the good
of the country. It is obvious, Gentlemen, that, at the pres-

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 429

ent moment, the tendency of opinion among those to be
represented in the convention is generally and strongly set
in another direction. I think it my duty, therefore, under
existing circumstances, to request those who may feel a
preference for me not to indulge in that preference, nor
oppose any obstacle to the leading wishes of political friends,
or to united and cordial efforts for the accomphshment of
those wishes.

The election of the next autumn must involve, in general,
the same principles, and the same questions, that belonged
to that of 1840. The cause I conceive to be the true cause
of the country, its permanent prosperity, and all its great in-
terests; the cause of its peace and honor; the cause of good
government, true liberty, and the preservation and integrity
of the Constitution ; and none should despair of its success.

I am, Gentlemen, vv^ith sentiments of sincere regard, your
obliged and obedient servant,

Daniel Webster.^

TO MESSRS. WILLIAM KINNEY AND OTHERS, OF STAUNTON,

VIRGINIA.

Washington, JSTovember 23, 1850.

Gentlemen, — On my arrival in t!)is city last evening, I
had the pleasure of receiving your communication of the
Ttli instant. It is a refreshing, an encouraging, and a pa-
triotic letter. You speak the sentiments which b(;come the
people of the great and ancient Commonwealth of Virginia.
You speak as Wythe and Pendleton, .Tefferson, Marshall,
and Madison would speak were they yet among us. You
speak of the union of these States ; and what idea can sug-
gest more lively emotion in the minds of the American peo-
ple, of present prosperity, past renown, and future hopes ?
Gladly would 1 be with you, Gentlemen, on the proposed
occasion, and, as one of your countrymen and fellow-citi-
zens, assure you of my hearty sympathy with you in the
opinions which you express, and my unchangeable purpose
to cooperate with you and other good men in upholding the
honor of the States and tlie Constitution of the government.
How happy sliould I be to present myself in Virginia, west

430 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of the Blue Ridge, and there to pledge mutual faith with
the men of Augusta and Rockbridge, Bath, Alleghany, and
Pocahontas, Highland, Pendleton, and Rockingham, that,
while we live, the institutions of our wise and patriotic sires
shall not want supporters, and that, so far as may depend
on us, the civilized world shall never be shocked by behold-
ing such a prodigy as the voluntary dismemberment of this
glorious republic. No, Gentlemen, never, never ! If it
shall come to that, political martyrdom is preferable to such
a sight. It is better to die while the honor of the country
is untarnished, and the flag of the Union still flying over our
heads, than to live to behold that honor gone for ever, and
that flag prostrate in the dust. Gentlemen, I speak warmly,
because I feel warmly, and because I know that I speak to
men whose hearts are as warm as my own, in support of
the country and the Union.

I am lately from the North, where I have mixed exten-
sively with men of all classes and all parties, and I assure
you. Gentlemen, through the masses of the Northern people
the general feeling and the great cry is for the Union, and
for its preservation. There are, it is true, men to be found,
some of perverse purposes, and some of bewildered imagi-
nations, who affect to suppose that some possible, but unde-
fined good would arise from a dissolution of the ties which
bind these United States together. But be assured the num-
ber of these men is small ; the eminent leaders of all par-
ties rebuke them, and while there prevails a general purpose
to maintain the Union as it is, that purpose embraces, as its
just and necessary means, a firm resolution of supporting
the rights of all the States precisely as they stand guarantied
and secured by the Constitution. And you may depend
upon it, that every provision in that instrument in favor of
the rights of Virginia, and the other Southern States, and
every constitutional act of Congress passed to uphold and
enforce those rights, will be upheld and maintained, not only
by the power of the law, but also by the prevailing influence
of public opinion.

Accidents may occur to defeat the execution of a law in
a particular instance ; misguided men may, it is possible,

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 431

sometimes enable others to elude the claims of justice and
the rights founded in solemn constitutional compact ; but on
the whole, and in the end, the law will be executed and
obeyed. The South will see that there is principle and pa-
triotism, good sense and honesty, in the general mind of the
North, and that, among the great mass of intelligent citizens
in that quarter, the prevailing disposition to ask for justice
is not stronger than the disposition to grant it to others.

Gentlemen, we are brethren ; we are descendants of those
who labored together with intense anxiety for the establish-
ment of the present Federal Constitution. Let me ask you
to teach your young men, into whose hands the power of
the country must soon fall, to go back to the close of the
Revolutionary war ; to contemplate the feebleness and in-
competency of the confederation of States then existing ;
and to trace the steps by which the intelligence and patriot-
ism of the great men of that day led the country to the
adoption of the existing Constitution. Teach them to study
the proceedings, votes, and reports of committees in the
old Congress. Especially draw their attention to the lead-
ing part taken by the Assembly of Virginia from 1783 on-
ward. Direct their minds to the convention at Annapolis in
1786 ; and by the contemplation and study of these events
and these efforts, let them see what a mighty thing it was to
establish the government under which we have now lived so
prosperously and so gloriously for sixty years. But, pardon
me ; I must not write an essay or make a speech. Vir-
ginia ! true-hearted Virginia ! stand by your country, stand
by the work of your fathers, stand by the union of the
States, and may Almighty God prosper all our efforts in the
cause of liberty, and in the cause of that united govern-
ment which renders this people the happiest people on whom
the sun ever shone !

I am, Gentlemen, yours truly and faithfully,

Daniel Webster.

432 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

TO THE NEW YORK COMMITTEE FOR THE CELEBRATION OF
THE BIRTH DAY OF WASHINGTON.

Washington, February 20, 185L

Gentlemen, — It is a source of deep rep^ret to me, that
my public duties absolutely proiiibit me from having the
pleasure of accepting your invitation, in behalf of the Union
Safety Cooimittee, to attend a public dinner on the twenty-
second, in honor of that auspicious day. Auspicious in-
deed ! All good influences, all omens of independence,
liberty, free government, the creation of a nation, its pros-
perity, happiness, and glory, hung over the hour when the
eyes of Washington first opened to the light.

You say truly. Gentlemen, that the present moment ad-
monishes us to rally in support of his principles, to express
anew our admiration of his character, and our gratitude for
his parting lessons of patriotism and wisdom.

You say truly. Gentlemen, that the great duty devolving
on us is that of regarding the Union as the foundation of
our peace and happiness, and the Constitution as the cement
of that Union. So Washington regarded them ; so he con-
jured his fellow-citizens, in all generations, to regard them ;
and whenever his Farewell Address to his country shall be
forgotten, and its admonitions rejected by the people of
America, from that time it will become a farewell address to
all the bright hopes of human liberty on earth.

Gentlemen, the ciiaracter of Washington is among the
most cherished contemplations of my life. It is a fixed
star in the firmament of great names, shining, without twin-
kling or obscuration, with clear, steady, beneficent light. It
is associated and blended with all our reflections on those
things which are near and dear to us. if we think of the
independence of our country, we think of him whose eflbrts
were so prominent in acliieving it ; if we think of the Con-
stitution which is over us, we think of him who did so much
to establish it, and whose administration of its powers is
acknowledged to be a model for his successors. If we think
of glory in the field, of wisdom in tlie cabinet, of the
purest patriotism, of tlie highest integrity, public and pri

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 433

vate, of morals without a stain, of religious feelings without
intolerance and without extravagance, the august figure of
Washington presents itself as the personation of all these
ideas.

You do well. Gentlemen, at this interesting hour, to in-
voke his example, to spread over all the land a knowledge
of his principles among the rising generation, and fervently
to pray Heaven that the spirit which was in him may also
be in us.

When Washington, in behalf of the convention, presented
to the old Congress and to the country that Constitution
which was the production of their patriotic and assiduous
labors, he made this most important declaration : *' In all
our deliberations upon this subject, we kept steadily in our
view, that which appears to us the greatest interest of every
true American, the consolidation of our Union, in which is
involved our prosperity, felicity, safety, perhaps our nation-
al existence. This important consideration, seriously and
deeply impressed on our minds, led each State in the con-
vention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude than
might have been otherwise expected ; and thus the Constitu-
tion which we now present is the result of a spirit of amity,
and of that mutual deference and concession which the pe-
culiarity of our political situation rendered indispensable."

And when his public career was drawing to a close, he
left to his country, as his last, best gift, his most earnest and
affectionate exhortation, to uphold that Union as the main
pillar of independence, and to frown indignantly upon the
first dawning of any attempt to dissolve it.

The advice is heeded now, and will be heeded hereafter.
But, nevertheless, there are some among us on whom it is
no injustice that those frowns of indignation should fall.
There are those who are altogether for abandoning the
Union, and alienating one portion of the country from the
rest. They avow their wishes, they disclose their purposes.
They open their hearts, and in those hearts there is found
no pulsation for that Union which makes all Americans one
people. All is but the ebbing and the flowing of the dark,

28

434" CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

unwholesome, troubled current of secession, schism, and
separation.

We have seen propositions for secession formally brought
forward, and solemnly discussed in the legislatures and con-
ventions of several of the States. Other conventions are
soon to be holden, under regular legislative provisions, to
consider the same subject. In one important State, recent
elections show that there prevails among the people almost
an entire unanimity of sentiment in favor of breaking up
the Union ; and this dissolution of the Union, it is supposed,
may not take place without conflict in arms. Munitions of
war are therefore provided, schools of instruction in military
tactics established, and an armed air and attitude assumed.
These apprehensions of conflict, in case secession be at-
tempted, are not only well founded, but, in my judgment,
certain to be realized. Secession cannot be accomplished
but by war. I do not believe those who favor it expect any
other result. Their hope is, that their cause and its objects
may spread ; and that other States, by local sympathies, or
a supposed common interest, may be led to espouse it ; so
that the whole country may come to be divided into two
great local parties, and as such to contend for the mastery.

But, Providence has not forsaken us. This object, I be-
lieve, has been defeated by the measures of adjustment
adopted by Congress at the last session, and by the spirit,
ability, and success with which the friends of the Union
have resisted it in the South. Nor have the efforts of your
association. Gentlemen, been either unimportant or unavailing.
Your voices have been heard throughout the whole land, and
no man can doubt how the great commercial metropolis of
the country feels and acts, or hereafter will feel and act, on
questions involving public interests of such indescribable
magnitude.

We have recently been informed. Gentlemen, of an open
act of resistance to law, in the city of Boston ; and if the
accounts be correct of the circumstances of this occurrence,
it is, strictly speaking, a case of treason. If men combine
and confederate together, and by force of arms or force of

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 435

numbers effectually resist the operation of an act of Con-
gress, in its application to a particular individual, with the
avowed purpose of making the same resistance to the same
act in its application to all other individuals, this is levying
war against the United States, and is nothing less than trea-
son. Now, I understand that the persons concerned in this
outrage in Boston avow openly their full purpose of pre-
venting, by arms, or by the power of the multitude, the exe-
cution of process for the arrest of an alleged fugitive slave
in any and all cases whatever. I am sure. Gentlemen, that
shame will burn the cheeks, and indignation fill the hearts,
of nineteen twentieths of the people of Boston, at the
avowal of principles and the commission of outrages so
abominable. Depend upon it, that, if the people of that
city had been informed of any such purpose or design as
was carried into effect in the court house in Boston, on Sat-
urday last, they would have rushed to the <5pot, and crushed
such a nefarious project mto the dust. The vast majority
of the people of Boston must necessarily suffer in their feel-
ings, but ought not to suffer at all in their character or repu-
tation for loyalty to the Constitution, from the acts of such
persons as composed the mob. I venture to say, that when
you hear of them next, you will learn that, personally and
collectively, as individuals, and also as represented in the
city councils, they will give full evidence of their fixed pur-
pose to wipe away, and obliterate to the full extent of their
power, this foul blot on the good name of their city.

And now. Gentlemen, when projects of dissolution have
taken so much of form and pressure in public bodies in the
South, when lawless violence, tramphng on the public au-
thorities, stalks forth so boldly in the North, you will see
that your work, highly prosperous thus far, is nevertheless
not yet concluded. It is wise and patriotic, therefore, that
you commemorate your love of country, strengthen your
resolution to maintain the Constitution, the Union, and the
laws, by uniting to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of
the great Father of his Country. You do well to call to
memory his services, to revive in your own bosoms his love

436 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

of liberty and order, and to draw in patriotic inspirations
from his principles and his example. For these principles
and this example, there will be found respect and admiration
every where, where there is a true love for the institutions
of the country. And every American may well doubt the
patriotism of his own heart, when he finds that in that heart
veneration for Washington begins to be languishing and
dying away.

Gentlemen, the path of duty before you, and before me,
is plain and broad ; it is to do our duty, and our whole duty,
thoroughly and fearlessly ; it is to embrace the free institu-
tions of our country, and to hold them up, with all our
might, as if it were our last struggle upon earth. And
then, if the blood of civil war shall flow, it will not stain
our garments. If disgraceful outrages, gaining strength by
indulgence and temporary success, shall proceed from stage
to stage, till they destroy the lives of men, women, and chil-
dren, pull down and demolish the temples of justice, and'
even wrap cities in flames, you and I, and our character and
memory, both now and with posterity, will at least escape
the consuming conflagration of reproach.

I am, Gentlemen, your much obliged servant,

Daniel Webster.

DECLARATION

OP

INDEPENDENCE.

PROCEEDINGS IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES RE-
SPECTING "A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, BY THE REPRE-
SENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES OP AMERICA, IN CONGRESS
ASSEMBLED."

IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED COLONIES.

Tuesday y June 11, 1776.

Resolved, That the committee, for preparing the Declara-
tion, consist of five: — the members chosen, Mr. Jefferson,
Mr. John Adams, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Sherman, and Mr. R.
R. Livingston.

Monday, July 1, 1776.

The order of the day being read,

Resolved, That this Congress vrill resolve itself into a
committee of the whole, to take into consideration the reso-
lution respecting independency.

That the declaration be referred to said committee.

The Congress resolved itself into a committee of the
whole. After some time the President resumed the chair,
and Mr. Harrison reported, that the committee had come to
a resolution, which they desired him to report, and to move
for leave to sit again.

The resolution agreed to by the committee of the whole
being read, the determination thereof was, at the request of
a colony, postponed until to-morrow.

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, resolve it-
self into a committee of the whole, to take into considera-
tion the declaration respecting independence.

Tuesday, July 2, 1776.

The Congress resumed the consideration of the resolu-
tion reported from the committee of the whole ; which was

egreed to as follows : —

(437;

438 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

Resolved^ cT Kot \keiye ^Wrvdca HDolonie^ ctVCj (uvdj o^ "luuvt,
ou/Ci-lit to- l>ej cjrVee auno- inaelivenoenh c7 betted j trlctb th/eii/ o/Ve cu>-
^o-lu-eo- pWm/ alL aJileavoittce, to- tne t/aUtiih/ cVoiwxj (ui/a trlat aU,
VioldicaL con/n/eo(5t.on/ t>etu>een/ tlvem/j orbo- tlve c/ tote oi- ^^Veafc f!)o'ul-
cun/j 1.6-j cui/(> OLi/oIlt to- ue, totaiXu/ au6-i-o4/i>e(>.

, Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved
iself into a committee of the whole ; and, after some time,
the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported,
that the committee have had under consideration the decla-
ration to them referred ; but, not having had time to go
througli the same, desired him to move for leave to sit again.
Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again re-
solve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their
further consideration the declaration respecting independence.

Wednesday^ July 3, 1776.

Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved
itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their further
consideration the declaration; and, after some time, tlie
President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison reported,
that the committee, not having yet gone tiirough it, desired
leave to sit again.

Resolved, That this Congress will, to-morrow, again re-
solve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their
further consideration the Declaration of Independence.

Thursday, July 4, 1776.

Agreeably to the order of the day, the Congress re-
solved itself into a committee of the whole, to take into
their further consideration the Declaration ; and after some
time the President resumed the chair, and Mr. Harrison re-
ported that the committee had agreed to a declaration, which
they desired him to report.

The Declaration being read, was agreed to as follows : —

A Declaration hy Hie Representatives of the United States of
America, in Congress assembled.
When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces-
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 439

have connected them with another, and to assume, among
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to
which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them,
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that
they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable rights ; that among these, are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights,
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever
any form of government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to
institute a new government, laying its foundation on such
principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most Ukely to effect their safety and happi-
ness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long
established, should not be changed for light and transient
causes ; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that
mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer-
able, than to right- themselves by abolishing the forms to
which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object,
evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it
is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government,
and to provide new guards for their future security. Such
has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their for-
mer systems of government. The history of the present
king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and
usurpations, all having, in direct object, the estabUshment of
an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
facts be submitted to a candid world : —

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome
and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass laws of imme-
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their

440 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

operation till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation
of large districts of people, unless those people would relin-
quish the right of representation in the legislature ; a right
inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their pub-
lic records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into com-
pliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for
opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of
the people.

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers,
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at
large for their exercise ; the State remaining, in the mean
time, exposed to all the danger of invasion from without,
and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these
States ; for that purpose, obstructing the laws for naturaUza-
tion of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage
their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new
appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refus-
ing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their
salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their
substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies,
without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and
isuperior to, the civil power.

He has combined, with others, to subject us to a jurisdic-
tion foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our
laws ; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation ?

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 441

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us :

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment,
for any murders which they should commit on the inhabit-
ants of these States :

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world :

For imposing taxes on us without our consent :

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial
by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended
offences :

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neigh-
boring province, establishing therein an arbitrary govern-
ment, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule into these colonies :

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valua-
ble laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our
governments :

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them-
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases
whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out
of his protection, and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign
mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and
tyranny, already begun, with circumstances of cruelty and
perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and
totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall
themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an
undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes, and con-
ditions.

442 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned
for redress, in the most humble terms; our repeated peti-
tions have been answered only by repeated injury. A
prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British
brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of at-
tempts made by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir-
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity,
and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common
kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevita-
bly interrupt our connexions and correspondence. They,
too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and consan-
guinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity,
which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold
the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace, friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA, in GENERAL CONGRESS
assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World
for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by
the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be, free and independent states ; that
they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown,
and that all political connexion between them and the state
of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; and
that, as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES,
they have full power to levy vrar, conclude peace, contract
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and
things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right
do. And, for the support of this declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we
mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and
our sacred honor.

The foregoing declaration was, by order of Congress, en
grossed, and signed by the following members :

JOHN HANCOCK.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

443

New Hampshire*
Josiah Bartlett,
William Whipple,
Matthew Thornton.
3Iassachusetts Bay.
Samuel Adams,
.lohn Adams,
Robert Treat Paine,
Elbrido-e Gerrv.

Rhode Inland.
Stephen Hopkins,
William Ellery.

Connecticut.
Roger Sherman,
Samuel Huntington,
William Williams,
Oliver Wolcott.

New York.
William Floyd,
PhiUp Livingston,
Francis Lewis,
Lewis Morris.

Neiv Jersey.
Richard Stockton,
John Witherspoon,
Francis Hopkinson,
John Hart,
Abraham Clark.

Pennsylvania.
Robert Morris,
Benjamin Rush,
Benjamin Franklin,
John Morton,
George Clymer,

James Smith,
George Taylor,
.Tames Wilson,
George Ross.

Delaware.
Caesar Rodney,
George Read,
Thomas M'Kean.

Maryland.
Samuel Chase,
William Paca,
Thomas Stone, [rollton.
Charles Carroll, of Car-

Virginia.
George Wythe,
Richard Henry Lee,
Thomas .Tefferson,
Benjamin Harrison,
Thomas Nelson, jun.
Francis Lightfoot Lee,
Carter Braxton.

North Carolina.
William Hooper,
Joseph Hewes,
John Penn.

South Carolina.
Edward Rutledge,
Thomas Hey ward, jun.
Thomas Lynch, jun.
Arthur Middleton.

Georgia.
Button Gwinnett,
Lyman Hall,
George Walton.

Resolved^ That copies of the Declaration be sent to the
several assemblies, conventions, and committees, or councils
of safety, and to the several commanding olficers of the
continental troops; that it be proclaimed in each of the
United States, and at the head of the army.

THE CONSTITUTION,

As here presented and authenticated by the certificate of the Secre
tary of State of the United States, is correctly copied from Mr. Hickey'a
edition of the Constitution to which Mr. Buchanan referred. He says, — -

" Several editions of the Laws printed by different individuals wero
compared, and it was found that one edition contained 204 and another
176 errors in punctuation of the Constitution ! Many of them are mate-
rial in the construction of the sentences in which they occur.

" It was also discovered, that, in the original manuscript, capital let-
ters were used at the beginning of substantives, or nouns, as is under-
stood to have been the practice generally in writing and printing at the
time the Constitution was written. These appear to be altogether dis-
regarded in the editions above referred to, except in words at the begin-
ning of sentences.

" These facts induced the determination to produce a true copy of the
Constitution in text, orthography, letter, and punctuation, and the rigid
examination and subsequent verification of the Department having the
care and custody of the venerated original, attest the success of the un-
dertaking in the production of the following authentic Constitution."

(444)

CONSTITUTION

or THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

We the People of the United States, in order to form a
more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic
Tranquillity, provide for the common Defence, promote
the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United States of America.

ARTICLE I.

Section 1. .

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a
Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a
Senate and House of Representatives.

Section 2.

1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of
Members chosen every second Year by the People of the
several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the
Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous
Branch of the State Legislature.

2. No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years
a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be
chosen.

3. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be appo^^tioned
among the several States which may be included within this
Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall
be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Per-
sons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years,

(445)

446 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other
Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within
three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten
Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The
Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every
thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at least one
Representative ; and until such enumeration shall be made,
the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse
three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six. New Jer-
sey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six,
Virginia ten. North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and
Georgia three.

4. When Vacancies happen in the Representation from
any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs
of Election to fill such Vacancies.

5. The House of Representatives shall chuse their
Speaker and other Officers ; and shall have the sole Power
of Impeachment.

Section 3.

1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature
thereof, for six Years ; and each Senator shall have one Vote.

2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in Conse-
quence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally
as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of
the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the sec-
ond Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth
Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth
Year, so that one-third may be chosen every second Year ;
and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during
the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive
thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next
Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va-
cancies.

3. No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have at-
tained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 447

Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elect-
ed, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be
chosen.

4. The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they
be equally divided.

5. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also
a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice Presi-
dent, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the
United States.

6. The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Im-
pe.ichnients. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be
on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside : And no
Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two
thirds of the Members present.

7. Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend
further than to removal from Office, and Disqualification
to hold and enjoy any Office of Honour, Trust or Profit under
the United States : but the Party convicted shall neverthe-
less be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and
Punishment, according to Law.

Section 4.

1. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each
State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at
any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as
to the places of chusing Senators.

2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in
December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section 5.

1. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Re-
turns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority
of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a
smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be
authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, io

448 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may
provide.

2. Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceed
ings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with
the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.

3. Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings,
and from time to time publish the same, excepting such
Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy ; and the
Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any ques-
tion shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be en-
tered on the Journal.

4. Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall,
w^ithout the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than
three Days, nor to any other Place than that in which the
two Houses shall be sitting.

Section 6.

1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Com-
pensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and
paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall
in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the
Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at
the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and
returning from the same ; and for any Speech or Debate in
either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time
for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office
under the Authority of the United States, which shall have
been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been
encreased during such time ; and no Person holding any
Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either
House during his Continuance in Office.

Section 7.

1. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or
concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

2. Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Rep-
resentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 449

be presented to the President of the United States ; If he
approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with
his Objections to that House in which it shall have orighiated,
who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two
thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be
sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by
which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by
two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in
all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined
by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for
and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each
House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by
the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it
shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a law,
in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress
by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it
shall not be a Law.

3. Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concur-
rence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be
necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be
presented to the President of the United States; and before
the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds
of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to
the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8.

The Congress shall have Power

1. To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Ex-
cises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common De-
fence and general Welfare of the United States ; but all
Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout
the United States ;

2. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ;

3. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and
among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes ;

4. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and
29

450 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the
United States ;

5. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of
foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Meas-
ures;

6. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the
Securities and current Coin of the United States ;

7. To establish Post Offices and post Roads ;

8. To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts,
by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the
exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries ;

9. To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court ;

10. To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed
on the high Seas, and Ofi*ences against the Law of Nations ;

IL To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Re-
prisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and
Water ;

12. To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation
of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two
Years ;

13. To provide and maintain a Navy ;

14. To make Rules for the Government and Regulation
of the land and naval Forces ;

15. To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute
the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel
Invasions ;

16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining,
tlie Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be
employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to
the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and
the Authority of training the Militia according to the Disci-
pUne prescribed by Congress ;

17. To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatso-
ever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as
may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of
Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United
States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places pur-
chased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in
which the San^p shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Maga-

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 451

rJnes, Arsenals, Dock- Yards, and other needful Buildings ; —
And

18. To make all Laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers,
and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Gov-
ernment of the United States, or in any Department or
Officer thereof.

Section 9.

1. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any
of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall
not be yjrohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one
tliousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may
be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars
for eacli Person.

2. The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not
be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebelhon or Invasion
the public Safety may require it.

3. No Bill of Attainder or ex post fiacto Law shall be
passed.

4. No Capitation, or other direct. Tax shall be laid, unless
in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before
directed to be taken.

5. No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported
from any State.

6. No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of
Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those
of anotlier : nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State,
be obhged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

7. No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law ; and a regu-
lar Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expendi-
tures of all public Money shall be published from time to
time.

8. No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United
States : And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust
under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, ac-
cept of any Present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any
kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

452 constitutional text book.

Section 10.

1. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or
Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin
Money ; emit Bills of Credit ; make any Thing but gold
and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts ; pass any
Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Lavr, or Law impairing the
Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress,
lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except
what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspec-
tion Laws : and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts,
laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the
Use of the Treasury of the United States ; and all such
Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the
Congress.

3. No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay
any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in
time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with
another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War,
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will
not admit of Delay.

ARTICLE IL

Section 1.

1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his Office dur-
ing the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice
President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows

2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legis-
lature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal
to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to
which the State may be entitled in the Congress : but no
Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of
Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed
Bn Elector.

[ ^ The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Bal-
lot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of

* This clause within brackets has been superceded and annulled by the
12th amendment, on page 462,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 453

the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the
Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each ; which List they
shall sisfn and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government.
of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The Pres-
ident of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of
Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be
counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the
President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Elect-
ors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority,
and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives
shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President ; and if no
Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said
House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the
President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from
each State having one Vote ; A Quorum for this Purpose shall consist
of a Member or Members from twothirds of the States, and a Majority
of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the
Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes
of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain
two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them
by Ballot the Vice President.]

3. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes ;
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

4. No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen
of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President ;
neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall
not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been
fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

5. In Case of the Removal of the President from Office,
or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the
Powers and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve
on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide
for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation, or 'Inability,
both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall
act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a Presi-
dent shall be elected.

6. The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his
Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased

i54 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have
been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any
other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

7. Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he
shall take the following" Oath or Affirmation : —

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm] that I will faithfully ex-
*' ecute the Office of President of the United States, and will
*'to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the
«' Constitution of the United States.

Section 2.

1. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the
Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of
the several States, when called into the actual Service of the
United States ; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of
the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments,
upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective
Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Par-
dons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases
of Impeachment.

2. He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Con
sent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of
the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by
and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of
the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United
States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise pro-
vided for, and which shall be established by Law : but the
Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior
Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

3. The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacan-
cies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by
granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their
next Session.

Section 3.

He shall from time to time give to the Congress Informal
tion of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Con-

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 455

eiiaeration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and ex-
pedient ; lie may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both
Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement be-
tween them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he
may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper ; he
shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers ; he
shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and
shall Commission all the officers of the United States.

Section 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the
United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeach-
ment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors.

ARTICLE III.

Section 1.

The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested
in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the
Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The
.Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold
their Offices during good Behavior, and shall, at stated
Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which
shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

Section 2.

1- The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law
and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the
United States, and Treaties made, or which shall he made,
under their Authority; — to all Cases affecting Ambassadors,
other public Ministers, and Consuls; — to all Cases of admi-
ralty and maritime Jurisdiction ; — to Controversies to which
the United States shall be a Party ; — to Controversies be-
tween two or more States ; — between a State and Citizens
of another State ; — between Citizens of different States, —
between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands un«ler
Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citi-
Kcns thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

456 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

2. In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Minis-
ters and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party,
the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all
the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall
have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with
such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Con-
gress shall make.

3. The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeach-
ment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the
State where the said Crimes shall have been committed ; but
when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at
such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have
directed.

Section 3.

1. Treason against the United States, shall consist only in
levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies,
giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be con-
victed of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses
to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

2. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punish-
ment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work
Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of
the Person attainted.

ARTICLE IV.

Section 1.

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the
public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every
other State. And the Congress may by general Laws pre-
scribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Pro-
ceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2.

1. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Priv-
ileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

2. A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony,
or other Crime, who shall Hee from Justice, and be fiund in

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 457

another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authoritj'
of the State from which he fled, be deHvered up, to be re-
moved to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

3. No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, un-
der the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Conse-
quence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged
from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on
Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may
be due.

Section 3.

1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within
the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed
by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States,
without the Consent of the Lemslatures of the States con-
cerned as well as of the Congress.

2. The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and
make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Ter-
ritory or other Property belonging to the United States ;
and nothing in this Constitution shall be so -construed as to
Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any par-
ticular State.

Section 4.

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect
each of them against Invasion ; and on Application of the
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature can-
not be convened) against domestic Violence.

ARTICLE V.

The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Consti-
tution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two
thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for pro-
posing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to
all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several
States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one

458 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the
Congress ; Provided that no Amendment which may be
made prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and
eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses
in the Ninth Section of the first Article ; and that nO State,
without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage
in the Senate.

ARTICLE VI.

1. All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into,
before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid
against the United States under this Constitution, as under
the Confederation.

2. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States
which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land ; and
the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing
in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary
notwithstanding.

3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned,
and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all
executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and
of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation,
to support this Constitution ; but no religious Test shall ever
be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust
under the United States.

ARTICLE VIL

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall
be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution be-
tween the States so ratifying the Same.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the
States present the Seventeenth Day of September in
the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and
Eighty seven and of the Independance of the United
States of America the Twelfth III "WltnesiS where-
of We have hereunto subscribed our Names,

GEO WASHINGTON —
Presidt and deputy from Virginia

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

459

NEW HAMPSHIRE.
John Langdon, Nicholas Oilman.

MASSACHUSETTS.
Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King.

CONNECTICUT.
Wm. Saml. Johnson, Roger Sherman,

NEW YORK.
Alexander Hamilton.

NEW JERSEY.

David Brearley,
Jona. Dayton.
PENNSYLVANIA.

Thomas Mifflin,

Wil: Livingston,

Wm. Paterson,

B. Franklin,
RoBT. Morris,
Tho : Fitzsimons,
James Wilson,

Geo : Read,
John Dickinson,
Jaco : Broom.

James M'Henry
Danl. Carroll.

John Blair,

Geo : Clymer,
Jared Ingersoll,
Gouv : Morris.
DELAWARE.

Gunning Bedford, Jun'r,
Richard Bassett,

MARYLAND.

Dan : of St. Thos. Jenifer,

VIRGINIA.

James Madison, Jr.,
NORTH CAROLINA.

Rich'd Dobbs Spaight,

Wm. Blount,
Hit. Williamson.

SOUTH CAROLINA.
J. Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth Pincknei

Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler.

GEORGIA.
William Few, Abr. Baldwin.

Attest :

WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary,

ARTICLES

IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF,

THE CONSTITUTION

OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMETtICA,

Proposed hy Congress^ and ratified by the Legislatures of the
several States^ pursuant to the fifth article of the origina„
Constitution,

ARTICLE I.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.

ARTICLE n.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear
Arms, shall not be infringed.

ARTICLE IIL

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war,
but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

ARTICLE IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affir-
mation, and particularly describing the place to be searched,
and the persons or things to be seized.

(460)

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 461

ARTICLE V.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or other-
w'lse infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment
of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of
War or public danger ; nor shall any person be subject for
the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;
nor shall be compelled in any Criminal Case to be a witness
against himself, nor be deprived of hfe, liberty, or property,
without due process of law ; nor shall private property be
taken for public use, without just compensation.

ARTICLE VL

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of
the State and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously ascer-
tained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause
of the accusation ; to be confronted with' the witnesses
against him ; to have Compulsory process for obtaining Wit-
nesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of Counsel
for his defence.

ARTICLE VII.

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise
re-examined in any Court of the United States, than accord-
ing to the rules of the common law.

ARTICLE VIII.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

ARTICLE IX.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.

i.62 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

ARTICLE X.

The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved
to the States respectively, or to the people.

ARTICLE XI.

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be con-
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or
prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of
another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign
State.

ARTICLE XII.

1. The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and
vote by ballot for President and Vice President, one of
whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state
with themselves ; they shall name in their ballots the person
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct
lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all per-
sons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of
votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United
States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The
President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and
the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the
greatest number of votes for President, shall be the Presi-
dent, if such number be a majority of the whole number of
Electors appointed ; and if no person have such majority,
then from the persons having the highest numbers not ex-
ceeding three on the list of those voted for as President,
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by
ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the
votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each
state having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall con
sist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states,
and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 463

fhoice. And if tlie House of Representatives shall not
choose a President whenever the right of choice shall de-
volve upon them, before the fourth daj of March next fol-
lowing, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in
the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the
President.

2. The person having the greatest number of votes as
Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number
be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed,
and if no person have a majority, then from the two higiiest
numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-Presi-
dent ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds
of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the
whole number shall be necessary to a choice.

3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office
of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of
the United States.

DATES OF THE ADOPTION OF THE CONSTITUTION, AND OF THE

AMENDMENTS.

The Constitution, 17th September, 1787.

The first ten Amendments, . . . 15th December, 1791.

The eleventh Amendment, . . . 8th January, 1798.

The twelfth Amendment, .... 25th September, 1804.

464 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

^C^ 20tfv, lH6.

fj rub eoilion, ol- live HDon/^ti/tM/tion/ avta outfYievtaynenit ficub i>een
tlutlco/t/Lu/ com/h/O/leo Lu-utfv trie oiuai/n/ctt irv tfvL6 ^i^ekalbweri/tj a*vo
ou-KbO to t>e correct, vrv text, letter, ouvta putictuation. 0)1 m/O/U/,
tti/etepoie, l>e ielLeo U/W-oii/ ct6 cu iyboufiaa'io eotti/OH/. («J Ive A^m-oXt/
puttuAe^ aeiyia^Yvcd'incb ttve cLcui/ivei oAe rvob tn. trie oii^ttLactLj tui/O aie
ctooeo nxeVelu, Pat can/uen-i/ervce op lepetervce.)

c7 eoVetoAit op c/ tote*

FROM THE HON. DANIEL WEBSTER, SECRETARY OF STATE
OF THE UNITED STATES.

WclvliLn^tan., ®ecem^et 'T'Ttfi., 'f^50.
®ea.V S^Lt :

^luiKvae'i/^ta/n/ai/Kta/ th/at ixoii/ ctVe cuvont to [vui>l/i/*rv O/ poi/i/Vtli/ Ooi—
bL&H/ op trie tJyoaii op true Hfian/iytttLtttori/j Q) Icuie, hjCeaybuA& irv
eocli/VeWLrvO/ nm u-ettep tUctt tae extcrtiti^e a^^tilJ>W/t^ol^ op tlvat uoutrwc
vi> op puii>uo d/n-o aervelcul/ Lnvkoito/n/Ce. tJ (ve vDon/^^ti/tuttori/ op tli/C
^IvCaLteo cJ ta/te& i/6 a. u)-ittten/ Q) niyh'iwm&nh j O/ iecoweo pu/n/ao/-
m/en.ta/1 ^iDouv- j i/t t6 trie Jjond, (Ubo trie on-Lip Jjond, op trie Union
oj' tllei>^e O to/teiy 5 i/t t& aXt tflc^t g/Li>e6 u/6 O/ JSational crlo/Va/cteV.

QHDl/m/0&-t ei>e\.U/ m-O/ri/ i.n/ trie coM/rvtiip i/& ca/W/a/l>t/e op- i^eo/atn/O. i/t j
lUi/O trlctb uj-rlucrl 6-0 aeeptlii/ con/ceirv5 O/Llj mou/Lo oe m-cLae ect&'i/tii
g/CceiyHb-i/e to alL. '

^l|^ou/V6j u>Ltn> uelij/ tUi/e VeactVo,

WASHINGTON'S

FAREWELL ADDRESS

TO THE

PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.

Friends and Fellow-Citizens, — The period for a new
election of a citizen, to administer the executive government
of the United States, being not far distant, and the time ac-
tually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in
designating the person, who is to be clothed with that impor-
tant trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may con-
duce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that
I should now apprize you of the resolution I have formed,
to decline being considered among the number of those, out
of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be
assured, that this resolution has not been taken without a
strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the rela-
tion, which binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that,
in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my
situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of
zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of grateful re-
spect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full
conviction that the step is compatible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office
to which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a
uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and
to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I con-
stantly hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my
power, consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty
to disregard, to return to that retirement, from which 1 had
been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to
do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the
preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature
reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our

30 (465)

466 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of
persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon
the idea.

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well
as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination in-
compatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety ; and
am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my
services, that, in the present circumstances of our country,
you will not disapprove my determination to retire.

The impressions, with which I first undertook the ardu-
ous trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In the
discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have, with
good intentions, contributed towards the organization and
administration of the government the best exertions of which
a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in
the outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience
in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others,
has strengthened the motives to difiidence of myself; and
every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me
more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary
to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any circum-
stances have given peculiar value to my services, they were
temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while
choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene,
patriotism does not forbid it.

In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not
permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that
debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country for
the many honors it has conferred upon me ; still more for
the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me ;
and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifest-
ing my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and perse-
vering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If bene-
fits have resulted to our country from these services, let it
always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive
example in our annals, that under circumstances in which
the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mis-
lead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of

Washington's farewell address. 467

fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfre-
quently want of succ.ess has countenanced the spirit of criti-
cism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop
of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by vvliich they
were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall
carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to un-
ceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you the choicest
tokens of its beneficence ; tliat your union and brotherly
affection may be perpetual ; that tlie free constitution, which
is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained ;
that its administration in every department may be stamped
with wisdom and virtue ; that, in fine, the happiness of the
people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be
made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent
a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of
recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption
of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it.

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your
welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the appre-
hension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an
occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contem-
plation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some
sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no
inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-im
portant to the permanency of your felicity as a People.
These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you
can only see in them the disinterested vt^arnings of a parting
friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his
counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your
indulgent reception of ray sentiments on a former and not
dissimilar occasion.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament
of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to
fortify or confirm the attachment.

The unity of Government, which constitutes you one peo-
ple, is also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a
main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the sup-
port of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of
your safety ; of your prosperity ; of that very Liberty, whidti

468 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

you so liiglilj prize. Bat as it is easy to foresee, that, from
different causes and from different quarters, much pains will
be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds
the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your
poUtical fortress against which the batteries of internal and
external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though
often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite mo-
ment, that you should properly estimate the immense value
of your national Union to your collective and individual hap-
piness ; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and im-
movable attachment to it ; accustoming yourselves to think
and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety
and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a sus-
picion, that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indig-
nantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to
alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to en-
feeble the sacred ties which now link together the various
parts.

For this you have every inducement of sympathy and in-
terest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country,
that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The
name of American, which belongs to you, in your national
capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism,
more than any appellation derived from local discrimina-
tions. With slight shades of difference, you have the same
religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have
in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the In-
dependence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint
counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings,
and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by
those, which apply more immediately to your interest. Here
every portion of our country finds the most commanding
motives for carefully guarding and preserving the Union of
the whole.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the Souths
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds,

Washington's farewell, address. 469

in the productions of the latter, great additional resources
of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious mate-
rials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same
intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its
agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly
into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its
particular navigation invigorated ; and, while it contributes,
in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass
of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection
of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted.
The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds,
and in the progressive improvement of interior communica-
tions by land and water, will more and more find, a valua-
ble vent for the commodities which it brini»:s from abroad, or
manufactures at home. The West derives from the East
supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is
perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity
owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for ics own
productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime
strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an in-
dissoluble community of interest as one ncMion. Any other
tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage,
whether derived from its own separate strength, or from aa
apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign power,
must be intrinsically precarious.

While, then, every part of our country thus feels an im-
mediate and particular interest in Union, all the parts com-
bined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and
efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably
greater security from external danger, a less frequent inter-
ruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what" is of
inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemp-
tion from those broils and wars between themselves, which
so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together
by the same governments, which their own rivalships alone
would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign
alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and em-
bitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of
those overgrown military establishments, which, under any

470 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which
are to be regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Lib-
erty. In this sense it is, that your Union ought to be con-
sidered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love
of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the
other.

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every
reflectins: and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of
the Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there
a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so
large a sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to
mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are
authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole,
with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective
subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It
is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such power-
ful and obvious motives to Union, affecting all parts of our
country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its
impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the
patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavour to
weaken its bands.

In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any
ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties
by Geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, At-
lantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavour
to excite a belief, that there is a real difference of local
interests and views. One of the expedients of party to
acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepre-
sent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot
shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-
burnings, which spring from these misrepresentations; they
tend to render ahen to each other those, who ought to be
bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of
our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this
head ; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive,
and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty
with Spain, and in tlie universal satisfaction at that event,
throughout the United States, a decisive proof how un-

Washington's farewell address. 471

founded were the suspicions propagated among them of a
policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States
unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi;
they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties,
that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure
to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our for-
eign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it
not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these
advantages on the Union by which they were procured 1
Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such
there are, who would sever them from their brethren, and
connect them with aliens ?

To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Gov-
ernment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, how-
ever strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute ;
they must inevitably experience the infractions and interrup-
tions, which all alliances in all times have experienced.
Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon
your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Gov-
ernment better calculated than your former for an intimate
Union, and for the efficacious management of your common
concerns. This Government, the offspring of our own
choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investi-
gation and mature deliberation, completely free in its prin-
ciples, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with
energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own
amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your
support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws,
acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fun-
damental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our politi-
cal systems is the right of the people to make and to alter
their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution
which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and
authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory
upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the
people to establish Government presupposes the duty of
every individual to obey the established Government.

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all com-
binations and associations, under whatever plausible char-

472 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

acter, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, of
awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted
authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle,
and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to
give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to put, in the
place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party,
often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the com-
munity ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of differ-
ent parties, to make the public administration the mirror of
the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather
than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested
by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests.

However combinations or associations of the above de-
scription may now and then answer popular ends, they are
likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent
engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men
will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to
usurp for themselves the reins of government ; destroying
afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust
dominion.

Towards the preservation of your government, and the
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not
only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions
to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with
care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however
specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to
effect, in the forms of the constitution, alterations, which
will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine
what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to
which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are
at least as necessary to fix the true character of govern-
ments, as of other human institutions ; that experience is the
surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the
existing constitution of a country ; that facility in changes,
upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to
perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and
opinion ; and remember, especially, that, for the efficient
management of your common interests, in a country so ex-
tensive as ours, a government of an much vigor as is consist-

Washington's farewell address. 478

erit with the perfect security of hberty is indispensable.
Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers
properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is,
indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too
feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine
each member of the society within the limits prescribed by
the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil en-
joyment of the rights of person and property.

I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in
the state, with particular reference to the founding of them
on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more
comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn man-
ner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, gener-
ally.

This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature,
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind,
t exists under different shapes in all governments, more or
less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but, in .those of the
popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly
their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another,
sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissen-
sion, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated
the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.
But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent
despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, grad-
ually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose
in the absolute power of an individual ; and sooner or later
the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more for-
tunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the pur-
poses of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind,
(which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,)
the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party
are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise peo-
ple to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and en-
feeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Comma-
uity with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the

474 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally
riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influ-
ence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the
government itself through the channels of party passions.
Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected
to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are use-
ful checks upon the administration of the Government, and
serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within cer-
tain limits is probably true ; and in Governments of a Mo-
narchical cast. Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not
with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the
popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a
spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency,
it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for
every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger
of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion,
to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a
flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.

It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a
free country should inspire caution, in those intrusted with
its administration, to confine themselves within their respec-
tive constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the
powers of one department to encroach upon another. The
spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of
all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the
form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of
that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which pre-
dominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of
the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal
checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and
distributing it into different depositories, and constituting
each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by
the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and
modern ; some of them in our country and under our own
eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to insti-
tute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution
or modification of the constitutional powers be in any par-

Washington's farewell address. 475

ticular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, in the
way which the constitution designates. But let there be no
change by usurpation ; for, though this, in one instance, may
be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by
which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must
always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or
transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.

Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political
prosperity. Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who
should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happi-
ness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and Citizens.
The mere Politician, equally with the pious man, ought to
respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all
their connexions with private and pubhc felicity. Let it
simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for
reputation, for life, if the sense of rehgious obligation desert
the oaths, which are t!ie instruments of investigation in
Courts of .lustice ? And let us with caution indulge the
supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined edu-
cation on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience
both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail
in exclusion of religious principle.

It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a neces-
sary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, ex-
tends with more or less force to every species of free gov-
ernment. Who, that is a sincere friend to it, can look with
indifference upon attempts to shake tiie foundation of the
fabric 1

Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, insti-
tutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In propor-
tion as the structure of a government gives force to public
opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlight-
ened.

As a very important source of strength and security,
cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is, to
use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of ex-
pense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely

476 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much
greater disbursements to repel it ; avoiding likewise the
accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of
expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to dis-
charge the debts, w^hich unavoidable wars may have occa
sioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen,
which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these
maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary
that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to them
the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should
practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts
there must be Revenue ; that to have Revenue there must
be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more
or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic em-
barrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper
objects (which is always a choice of difficuhies), ought to be
a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct
of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquies-
cence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the pub-
lic exigencies may at any time dictate.

Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations ; cul-
tivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality
enjoin this conduct ; and can it be, that good policy does
not equally enjoin it 1 It will be worthy of a free, enlight-
ened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to
mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a peo-
ple always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence.
Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things, the
fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary ad-
vantages, which might be lost by a steady adherence to it 1
Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent
felicity of a Nation with its Virtue ? The experiment, at
least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles hu-
man nature. Alas ! is it rendered impossible by its vices 1

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential,
than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular
Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be
excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feel-
mgs towards all should be cultivated. The Nation, which

Washington's farewell address. 477

indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual
fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its ani-
mosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead
it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one
nation against another disposes each more readily to offer
insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage,
and to be haughty and intractable, vi'hen accidental or trifling
occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent collisions, ob-
stinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation,
prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to
war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of
policy. The Government sometimes participates in the
national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason
would reject ; at other times, it makes the animosity of the
nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride,
ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The
peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has
been the victim.

So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for
another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favor-
ite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common
interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and
infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former
into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter,
without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also
to concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to
others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the
concessions ; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to
have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a
disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal priv-
ileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted,
or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favorite
nation,) facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their
own country, without odium, sometimes even with popular-
ity ; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of
obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a
laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compli-
ances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such

478 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK.

attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlight-
ened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do
they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the
arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or
awe the Public Councils ! Such an attachment of a small
or weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the
former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure
you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free
people ought to be constantly awake ; since history and ex-
perience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most
baneful foes of Republican Government. But that jealousy,
to be useful, must be impartial ; else it becomes the instru-
ment of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a de-
fence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation,
and excessive dislike of another, cause those vs^hom they ac-
tuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and
even second the arts of influence on the other. Real pa-
triots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable
to become suspected and odious ; while its tools and dupes
usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surren-
der their interests.

The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign
nations, is, in extending our commercial relations, to have
with them as little political connexion as possible. So far
as we have already formed engagements, let them be ful-
filled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop.

Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have
none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be en-
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties,
in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary
combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us
to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, un-
der an efficient ' government, the period is not far off, when
ive may defy material injury from external annoyance ; when
we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality,

i

Washington's farewell address. 479

we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously re-
spected ; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility
of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the
giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war,
as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

Why forgo the advantages of so peculiar a situation ?
Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground 1 Why,
by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Eu-
rope, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of Euro-
pean ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice 1

It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances
with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as
we are now at liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood
as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements.
1 hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private
affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it,
therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genu-
ine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would
be unwise to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estab-
lishments, on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely
trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom-
mended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our
commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand ;
neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences ;
consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversi-
fying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing
nothing ; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to
give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our mer-
chants, and to enable the government to support them, con-
ventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circum-
stances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and
liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as expe-
rience and circumstaitces shall dictate ; constantly keeping
in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested
favors from another ; that it must pay with a portion of iti
independence for whatever it may accept under that char-
acter; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the

480 CONSTITUTIONAL TEXT BOOK,

condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and
yet of being reproached witli ingratitude for not giving more.
There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate
upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion,
which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to dis-
card.

In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an
old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make
the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that they
will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our
nation from running the course, which has hitherto marked
the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself,
that they may be productive of some partial benefit, same
occasional good ; that they may now and then recur to mod-
erate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs
of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pre-
tended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the
solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.

How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have
been guided by the principles which have been delineated,
the public records and other evidences of my conduct must
witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance
of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed my-
self to be guided by them.

In relation to the still subsisting vi^ar in Europe, my Proc-
lamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my Plan.
Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your
Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of
that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by
any attempts to deter or divert me from it.

After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best
lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country,
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take,
and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral posi-
tion. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should de-
pend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, persever-
ance, and firmness.

The considerations, which respect the right to hold this
conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I

Washington's farewell address. 481

will only observe, that, according to my understanding of
the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of
the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all.

The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred,
without any thing more, from the obligation which justice
and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it
is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace
and amity towards other nations.

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct
will best be referred to your own reflections and experience.
With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to
gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent
institutions, and to progress without interruption to that de-
gree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give
it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration,
I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too
sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may
have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I
fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils
to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the
hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with
indulgence ; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedi-
cated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incom-
petent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must
soon be to the mansions of rest.

Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and ac-
tuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to
a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his pro-
genitors for several generations ; I anticipate with pleasing
expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to real-
ize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the
midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good
laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of
my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutua,
cares, labors, and dangers.

George Washington.
United States,
September llth, 1796.
31

The following Note is taken from Mr. Sparks's edition of the "Writinga
l>f Washington, from which the Farewell Address is correctly copied, in
text, orthography, and punctuation : —

This Address is here printed from a copy of " Claypoole^s American
Daily Advertiser i"" for September 19, 1796. On this paper are indorsed
the following words, in Washington's handwriting, which were designed
a.s an instruction to the copyist, who recorded the Address in the letter
book : —

" The letter contained in this gazette, addressed ' To the People of

the United States,' is to be recorded, and in the order of its date. Let

it have a blank page before and after it, so as to stand distinct. Let it

be written with a letter larger and fuller than the common recording

hand. And where words are printed with capital letters, it is to be done

so in recording. And those other words, that are printed in italics,

must be scored underneath and straight by a ruler."

(482)

CHRONOLOGICAL SERIES OF EVENTS IN THE
EARLY PART OF MR. WEBSTER'S LIFE.

Born 18th of January, 1782, in Salisbury,* N. H.

Sent to Exeter Academy May, 1796, and remained only a few months.

Prepared for college by the Rev. Mr. Wood, of Boscawen.

Entered Dartmouth College in 1797.

Completed his college course in August, 1801, and immediately entered
the office of Mr, Thompson, next door neighbor to his father, as a
student of law. Mr. Thompson was a gentleman of education and
intelligence, and was afterward a member of both houses of Congress.
Mr. Webster remained in his office till, in the words of Mr. March, " he
felt it necessary to go somewhere and do something to earn a little
money." In this emergency, application was made to him to take
charge of an academy at Fryeburg, in Maine, upon a salary of about
one dollar per diem. As he was able, besides, to earn enough to pay
for his board and to defray his other expenses by acting as assistant to
the register of deeds for the county, his salary was all saved — a fund
for his own professional education, and to help his brother through
college. In July, 1804, he took up his residence in Boston. Before
entering upon the practice of his profession, he enjoyed the advantage
of pursuing his legal studies for six or eight months in the office of
the Hon. Christopher Gore. This was a fortunate event for Mr. Web-
ster. Mr. Gore, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, was a lawyer
of eminence, a statesman, and a civilian, a gentleman of the old
school of manners, and a rare example of distinguished intellectual
qualities united with practical good sense and judgment. We will
close this notice by an extract from Mr. Choate's Eulogy, delivered
before the Faculty, Students, and Alumni of Dartmouth College,
commemorative of Daniel Webster: —

" And so he has put on the robe of manhood, and has come to do the
work of life. Of his youth there is no need to say more. It had been
pure, happy, strenuous ; in many things privileged. The influence of
home, of his father and the excellent mother, and that noble brother
whom he loved so dearly and mourned with such sorrow — these influ-
ences on his heart, principles, will, aims, were elevated and strong. At
an early age, comparatively, the then great distinction of liberal educa-
tion was his. His college life was brilliant and without a stain; and in
moving his admission to the bar, Mr. Gore presented him as one of ex-
traordinary promise : —

* In 1828, the town of Franklin was incorporated from parts of four towns, and in
eluded that part of Salisbury in which the Webster homestead was situated.

(483)

484 EXTRACT FROM MR. CHOATE's EULOGY.

' With prospects bright upon the world he came —
Pure love of virtue, strong desii^ of fame ;
Men watched the way his lofty mind would take,
And all foretold the progress he would make.'

" And yet, if on some day, as that season was drawing to its close, it
had been foretold to him that before his life, prolonged to little more than
threescore years and ten, should end, he should see that country in
which he was coming to act his part expanded across a continent, — the
thirteen states of 1801 multiplied to thirty-one, the territory of the North-
West, the great valley below, sown full of those stars of empire, the
Mississippi forded, and the Sabine, the Rio Grande, and the Nueces, the
ponderous gates of the Rocky Mountains opened to shut no more, the
great tranquil sea become our sea, — her area seven times larger, her
people five times more in number — that through all the experiences of tri-
al, the madness of party, the injustice of foreign powers, the vast enlarge-
ment of her territory, the antagonism of interior interest and feeling, the
spirit of nationality would grow stronger still and more plastic, — that
the tide of American feeling would run ever fuller — that her agricul-
ture would grow mose scientific — her arts more various and instructed,
and better rewarded — her commerce winged to a wider and still wider
flight, — that the part she would play in human affairs would grow no-
bler ever and more recognized, — that in this vast growth of national
greatness, time would be found for the higher necessities of the soul, —
that her popular and her higher education would go on advancing
— that her charities and all her enterprises of philanthropy would go on
enlarging — that her age of lettered glory should find its auspicious
dawn ; and then it had also been foretold him that even so, with her growth
and strength, should his fame grow and be established and cherished,
there where she should garner up her heart; — that by long gradations
of service and labor he should rise to be, before he should taste of death,
of the peerless among her great ones — that he should win the double
honor, wear the double wreath, of professional and public supremacy ;
that he should become her wisest to counsel, and her most eloquent to
persuade : that he should come to be called the Defender of the Consti-
tution and Preserver of Honorable Peace, that the ' austere glory of dif-
fering ' to save the Union should be his, — that his death, at the summit
of greatness, on the verge of a ripe and venerable age, should be distin-
guished less by the flags at half mast on ocean and lake, less by the min-
ute gun, less by the public procession and the appointed eulogy, than by
sudden paleness overspreading all faces, by gushing tears, by sorrow,
thoughtful, boding, silent, the sense of desolation, as if renown and grace
were dead — as if the hunters' path and the sailors', in the great solitude
of the wilderness or sea, henceforward were more lonely and less safe
than before, — had this prediction been whispered, how calmly had that
perfect sobriety of mind put it all aside as a pernicious or idle dream !
Yet in the fulfilment of thatj)rediction is told the remaining storv of his
life."

It is related by the friends of Mr. Webster Avho were present at his
death, that, a short time before he breathed his last, he fell into a light
slumber, which lasted some time ; and when he awoke, he opened his
eyes, and, realizing where he was, spoke, in his deep-toned voice, I still
LIVE ! Prophetic words, and will be true as long as the English lan-
guage is spoken.

INDEX

TO THE SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER.

A.

•* ACCEDE," a word not found in the Constitution, 162.
Adams and Jefferson, coincidences in the death and lives of, 62.

members of the committee to prepare the Declaration of Inde-
pendence, 72.
Adams, John, birth and education, 66.

admitted to the bar, 66.

defends British officers and soldiers, 67.

a remarkable letter of, 68.

delegate to Congress, 69.

important resolution, reported by, 72.

power in debate, 76.

knowledge of colonial history, 77.

supposed speech in favor of independence, 80.

minister abroad, 84.

delegate to Massachusetts Convention, 84.

Vice President and President of the United States, 85.

his description of the first prayer in Congress, 307.
Adams, Samuel, delegate to Congress, 307. ■

anecdote of, 307.

Addition to the Capitol, address at the laying of the corner ston6 of the,

409.
brief account of the proceedings of the day, in Mr. Webster's

handwriting, deposited beneath the corner stone, 416.

Aix-la-Chapelle, stipulation in regard to slaves in the treaty of, 397.

Albany, speech delivered to the young men of, 392.

speech at a dinner, same day, 405.

(485)

486 INDEX TO

America, her contributions to Europe, 292.

familiarity with republican principles at the commencement of
the revolution, 38.
American government, elements of, 292.
American people, prepared for popular government, 55.
American Revolution, its purposes, 163.

effect of, 163.

commenced in New England, 23.
Ancestry, respect for, 14.
Anti-slavery conventions, proceedmgs of, 387.
Appointing and removing power, speech on, 215,
Architecture, improvement in, 104.

Gothic, 105.
Asiento, stipulation respecting slaves in the treaty, 397.

B.

BABYLON, astronomers of, 147.

Bacon, Lord, 63.

Bangor, reception of Mr. Webster at, 221.

its position, 222.

its growth, 223.
Battle of Bunker Hill, reflections on the, 58.
Berkeley, Bishop, 338.
Boston, Mechanics Institution of, 98.

citizens of, present a Vase to Mr. Webster, 228.

violation of law in, 434.
Brewster, Elder William, supposed address of, 375.
Brooks, Governor John, first president of the Bunker Hill Momunenft

Association, 65.
Buffalo, reception of Mr. Webster at, in 1833, 178.

its trade, 179.

reply to the mechanics and manufacturers of, 1 80.

reception of Mr. Webster at, in 1851, 379.

speech delivered on the occasion, 379.
Bunker Hill Battle, address to the survivors of, 47.
Bunker Hill Monument, laying the corner stone of, 42.

Mr. Webster's address, 42.

completion of the, 280.

Mr. Webster's address, 280.

c.

CALHOUN, J. C, attack upon Mr. Webster, 272.
an honest nuUifier, 262

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 487

California, establishment of a local government in, 344.

its declaration of independence, and discovery of gold in, 344.

Society of Pilgrims of, 376.
Capitol, extension of, 409.

brief account of the proceedings of the day, in Mr. Webster's
handwriting, deposited beneath the corner stone, 416.

foundation of, laid by Washington, 418.
Charleston, S. C, arrival of Mr. Webster at, 316.

dinner of the New England Society at, 318.
Chatham, Lord, his opinion of the first Congress, 70.
Chief Justice of the United States, a Roman Catholic, 372.
Christianity, importance of teaching children the elements of, 305.
Christian ministry established by Christ, 301.

work of the, 302.
Christian ministry and religious instruction of the young, speech on, in

the Supreme Court, 296.
Clergy, eulogium on, 298.
Colonists, English, character of, 290.
Columbia, S. C, reception of Mr. Webster at, 322.
Columbus, portrayed, 43.
Commerce, extent of power of Congress to regulate, 271.'

between the States, 267.
Common Schools of New England, 259. •

Compromise Measures, 361.
Confederation, object of, 382.
Congress of Delegates at Philadelphia, in 1774, 69.

sat with closed doors, 76.
Congress of the United States, has no power over slavery in the States,
237.

has power over slavery in the District of Columbia, 237.
Constitution which was adopted on board the Mayflower, 373.
Constitution of the United States, characters of its founders, 137.

meeting in Boston, in favor of adopting, 193.

peculiarities of, 233.

founded on compromise, 235.

not a compact between sovereign States, 157, 166, 167.

preamble of, 445.

provision of, in regard to fugitive slaves and apprentices, 397.
Constitution and the Union, speech for, 341.
Cotton, influence of its production upon the south and upon slavery,

351.
Currency, important question respecting, 265.

cannot be maintained by the States of uniform value, 268.

power of Congress to regulate, (extract from Mr. Madison's mei-
sage,) 271.

488 INDEX TO

D.

DANGER from executive patronage, 218.
Declaration of Independence, committee to prepare, 72.
Deposits, removal of, 200.
Dissolution of the Union, evils of, 156.
Duche, Rev. Mr., anecdote of, 307.

E.

EDUCATION, effect of its diffusion, 26, 259.

Effects of instructions to members of Congress, 365.

Emigration, a common incident, 17.

English language, its correct use in the United States, 291.

English race, its extension, 17.

Eulogium on General Taylor, 362.

Europe in the nineteenth century, 46.

her power annihilated in America, 46.
Exchange, cause of difference in, 266.
Expunging resolution. Constitution violated by, 248.

F.

EARROW, Mr., his address to Mr. Webster, on behalf of the students

of South Carolina College, 323.
Festival of the sons of New Hampshire, 328.
Eiilmore, President, address to, at the laying of the comer stone of the

addition to the Capitol, 425.
Eirst commandment of the Decalogue fountain of all revealed truth, 303
Foot's Resolution, speech on, 108.

last remarks on, 125.
Franklin, Benjamin, 72.
French Chambers, a member rejected from, for giving pledges to con

stituents, 366.
French and Indians, New Hampshire settlements attacked by, 332.
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, 386.

more favorable to the fugitive than the law of 1793, 400.

the two objects of, 399.
Fugitives from labor, to be surrendered, 384.

G.

GEORGIA, her patriotism, 326.

the abundance of her resources, 326.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 489

Girard, Stephen, suit of his heirs, 296.

Girard College, provision of Girard's will respecting no Sabbath in, 305.

Government, its nature and constitution, 24.

difficulty of establishing, 55.

its duty respecting currency, 279.

its permanency, 56, 138.
Government, American, its origin and character, 24.

its protection to persons and property, 139.
Granite, its use in architecture, 106.
Greece, revolution in, 32.

our obligations to, 33.

has accomplished much, 38.

propriety of the appointment of agents to, 39.
Greeks, sympathy for, 39.

H.

HAMILTON, Alexander, his serv'ices, 134.

Hamilton, General James, at a meeting of the Charleston New England
Society offered a sentiment to the memory, of Robert Y.
Hayne, 321.
Hancock, John, recommends association for protecting navigation, 191.

presides over Congress, 79.

signature to the Declaration of Independence, 442.
Harrington, quoted, 25.
Harvard College, 22.

objects of its foundation, 27.
Haven, Messrs. John and others, letter to, 426.
Hayne, Robert Y., eulogium on, 322.
Holmes, Oliver W., quoted, 421.
Hume, his remarks on the administration of justice, 141.

I.

IMMORTALITY, yearning of the soul for, 305.
Inauguration of Washington, 136.
Indiana, its growth, 257.

internal improA-ement of, 257.
Indians and French, dangers from, 332.
Internal improvements, 243.

in New England, 23.

influence of, 223.

principles of, 261.

490 INDEX TO

Internal improvements, principles to be regarded in appropriations for,
261.
general advantages of, 114.
necessity for appropriations, 242.

J.

JACKSON, General, his course relative to nullification, 184.
Jeflferson, Thomas, birth and education of, 71.

elected a member of the First Congress, 71.
•♦,. governor of Virginia, 86.

Notes on Virginia, 86.

minister abroad, 86.

secretary of State, 87.

Vice President, 87.

President, 88.

Manual, 87.

his old age, 88.

founds University of Virginia, 88.
Judiciary of the United States, its functions, 141.
Justice, the great interest of man on earth, 314.

K

KINNEY, Messrs. "William and others, of Staunton, Va., letter to, 429.

L.

LAFAYETTE, at Bunker Hill, 52.

Lands, public, proceeds of to be devoted to the colonization of the free

blacks, 359.
Lee, Richard Henry, resolution of the 7th of June, 1776, 72.
Liberty, love of religious, 16.
Literature, its influence, 29.

advantages of a love for, 90.
Livingston, Chancellor, his services, 72.
Localisms, cannot destroy our system of government, 378.
Louisville Canal, remarks on the purchase of, 240.
Luther's Reformation, 288.

M.

MADISON. Indiana, reception at, 256.
Madison, James, 133.

his knowledge of the Constitution, 255.

SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 491

Madison Papers, remarks on, 254.
Martial airs of England, 204.
Massachusetts, natural productions of, 327.

protests against the Expunging Resolution, 246.
Mathematics, its objects, 101.
Mayflower, compact signed in her cabin, 19.

constitution which was adopted on board the, 373.
Mechanics' Institution of Boston, lecture before, 98.
Monroe, James, quotation from message respecting Greece, 35.
Motion, its universality, 99.

NATIONAL Bank, remarks on presenting a petition of New York

merchants for a, 251.
Naval architecture, improvement in, 104.

Navy, United States, Mr. Webster's early support and defence of, 277.
New England, first settlement of, 13, 16.

American revolution commenced in, 23.

common schools of, 26.

compared to a ship, 374.

youths of all denominations educated at colleges of, 306.
New Hampshire, festival of the sons of, 328.
Newton, Sir Isaac, 63.
New York, public dinner at, 129.

remarks on presenting a petition from the merchants of, 251.
New York Committee, letter to, on the character of Washington, 432.
Nullification, practical operations of, 163.

consequences of its success, 165.

o.

OFFICE is sought for with avidity, 218.
Orphans, education of, in Girard College, 296.
Otis, James, his speech on writs of assistance, 69.

P.

PAINE, Eobert Treat, delegate to Congress, 69, 84.
Parliament, power of, over the colonies, 74.

not named in the Declaration of Independence, 340.
Parties, origin of, 116.

violence of, 117.

existence and influence of, 217.
Party spirit, Washington's exhortation against, 153.

492 INDEX TO

People, right of the, to a free discussion, 209.

Pilgrim Fathers, 15, 16,

Pilgrim festival in New York, in 1850, 370.

speech of Mr, Webster at, 370.
Pledges of candidates for oflSce. 367.
Political power, importance of defining its extent, 226.
Power of appointing necessarily implies power of removing, 221.
Prescott, William, 48, 52.
President, answers of Congress to th6, 36.
Presidential Protest, speech on, 196.

Preston, Hon. W. C, president of South Carolina College, 322.
Protection of American labor, 181.
Protest against the Expunging Kesolution, 245. *
Putnam, General, 48.

K

RAILROAD, first in America, 46.

Raleigh, Sir W., referred to, 288.

Recention of Mr. Webster at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1833, 178.

at Pittsburg, Pa., 182.

at Bangor, Me., 221.

at Madison, Ind., 256.

at Charleston, S. C, 316.

at Columbia, S. C, 322.

at Savannah, Ga., 324.

at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1851, 379.
Religion, a communication and a tie between man and his Maker, 373.

the only solid basis of morals, 302.
Removal from ofl&ce, reasons ought to be stated to the Senate, 221.
Representative government, a new experiment, 149.
Reply to Mr. Calhoun, 272.
Revere, Colonel, his character, 193.
Revolution, defined, 163.
Revolution, American, its causes, 21.

commenced in New England, 23.

commemorated by Bunker Hill Monument, 44.

survivors of, addressed, 47.

character of the State papers of, 51.

peculiar principles of, 287.
Revolution in Greece, 32.
Revolutionary officers, speech on the bill for the relief of, 94.

defence of, 95.
. support of the measure, 96.

bELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER. 493

Rivers of the United States, character of, 242.
Rome, liberty of, 414.

s.

SAVANNAH, Ga., reception at, 324.

St. Asaph, Bishop of, 411.

Salem, magnanimity of its citizens, 50.

Schools of New England, 26.

Secession of individual States, an absurdity, 408.

impossibility of a peaceable, 357.

proposition for, 434.
Senate of the United States, a body of equals, 112.
Slavery, recognized by the Constitution, 384.

in the District of Columbia, remarks on, 2S6.

mode of extinguishing, 359.

petitions against, are not factious, 240.

unanimous opinion of the north respecting, 237.
Smith, Hon. Truman, speech of, 364.
South Carolina College, address of the students of, 323

Mr. Webster's reply to, 323.
Southern tour, introductory note, 316.
Spectators at the battle of Bunker Hill, more numerous than both

armies, 58.
Sta6l, Madame de, remarks of, 334.
Stark, General John, 48.

reminiscences respecting, 332.
State interposition, destructive of the powers of Congress, 174.
Story, Mr. Justice, eulogium on, by Mr. Webster, 311.

obligation of English lawyers to, 313.

universal sentiment of grief for, 313.

T.

TARIFF, how passed, 197.

Mr. Webster's course in relation to, 278.
Taylor, General Zachary, notice of his death, 361.

eulogium on, 362.
Tenets, defined, 308.
Toleration, justice of religious, 17.

Tribute to the memory of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, delivered in
the Greek House of Representatives, 32.

494 n«DEX TO SELECTIONS FROM WEBSTER.

CJ.

UNION of the States, importance of, 154.

one of the objects in the formation of the Constitution, 225.

adhesion to, 325.

dangers to, 183, 227.

necessity of, 289.
United States, peaceful policy of, 37.

their rapid growth, 46.

principles established by, 143.

condition at the close of the war of 1812, 223.

consequence of the proximity of the, to Europe, 337.

the safety of the government of, 339.

not exposed to danger from without, 234.

V.

VASE, presentation of, to Mr. Webster, 228.

w.

WAE of 1812, Mr. Webster's defence of his course in, 274.
Warren, General, 52.
Washington, George, 53.

resolutions of John Adams respecting, 81.

speech on his character, 145.

the embodiment of the idea of a patriot President, 402.

laid the foundation of the first Capitol, 422.
Washington City, its favorable situation, 422.
Webster, Daniel, in favor of protecting American labor, 187.

president of the Bunker Hill Monument Association, 44.
Wesley, John, anecdote of, 299.
Western States, interested in internal improvements, 195.

Y.

YOUNG men, appeal to, 409.

INDEX

rO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES

Abbreviations used in the references,
JirtieUf Art — Section, sec. — Clause, cl. — Page, p.

A.

ACCOUNTS, public, to be published. Art. L, sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451.
Adjournment of Congress, by whom. Art. II., sec. 3, p. 455.

of each house. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 4, p. 447.
Admiralty, jurisdiction. See Judicial Power.

Admission of new States into the Union. Art. IV., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 457
Ambassadors, appointment of. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454.

receiving of. Art. II., sec. 3, p. 455.

protection and rights of. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 455.

suits by and against. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 456.
Amendments of Constitution, how made. Art. V., p. 457.
Appellate jurisdiction. See Judicial Power.

Appointments to office by President and Senate. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 2,
p. 454.

in case of vacancies. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454.
Apportionment of representatives and direct taxes. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 3,

p. 445.
Appropriations of money. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451.
Arms, right to bear. Amend. Art. II., p. 460.
Army, power to raise and support. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 12, p. 450.
Arrest of members of Congress. Art. I., sec. 6, cl. 1, p. 448.
Arts and science, promotion of. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, p. 450.

(495)

496

INDEX TO THE

Attainder, prohibition of bills of, by Congress. Art. I., sec. 9, d. 3i,
p. 451.
effect of, in treason. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 456.
Authors, copyright of. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, *^. 450.

>

B.

BAIL, excessive, prohibition of. Amend. Art. VIII., p. 461.
Bankruptcy, power of Congress over. Art, I., sec. 8, cl. 4, p. 450.
Bills of attainder, prohibition of. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452.
Bills of credit, prohibition of Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452.
Borrow money, power of Congress to. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 2, p. 449.
Bribery, impeachment for. Art. II., sec. 4, p. 455.

c.

CAPITATION tax, power to lay. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 4, p. 451.

Captures, regulation of Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 11, p. 450.

Cases, what, are within the judicial power. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1,

p. 456.
Census, when to be taken. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 446.
Cessions, for seat of government, and for forts, arsenals, &c. Art. I.,

sec. 8, cl. 17, p. 450.
Citizen of the United States. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 4, p. 453.
Citizens of each State, entitled to privileges in the several States.

Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 456.
Coinage, power of Congress over. Art. L, sec. 8, cl. 5, p. 450.
counterfeiting. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 6, p. 450.
prohibition upon the States. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452.
Commerce, power of Congress to regulate. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 3, p. 449.
no preference shall be given to one State over another. Art. I.,
sec. 9, cl. 6, p. 451.
Common defence, to provide for the. Preamble, p. 445.
Common law, suits at. Amend. Art. VII., p. 461.
Compensation for property taken for public uses. Amend. Art. V,

p. 461.
Congress of the United States, of what it does consist. Art. I., sec. 1,
p. 445.
shall assemble once a year. Art. I., sec. 4, cl. 2, p. 447.
legislative powers, vested in. Art. I., sec. 1, p, 445.
membership, each house its own judge. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1,

p. 447.
quorum in each house. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1, p. 447.
may compel attendance of absent members. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 1.
p. 447.

CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 497

Congress, adjournment. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 4, p. 448.

each house determines its own rules. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 2, p. 448
each house shall keep a journal. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 3, p. 448.
time of adjournment limited. Art. I., sec. 5, cl. 4, p. 448.
compensation for services, and privileges. Art. I., sec, 6, cl. 1

p. 448.
disqualifications in certain cases. Art. I., sec. 6, cl. 2, p. 448.
house to originate all revenue bills. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 1, p. 448.
bills, after passing both houses, presented to the President. Art.

I., sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448.
orders, resolutions, &c., presented the same as bills. Art. I., sec.

7, cl. 3, p. 449.
if he approve, he signs ; if not, he returns with his objections. Art.

I., sec. 7, els. 2 and 3, p. 449.
powers of. Art. I., sec. 8, 18 els., pp. 449, 450, 451.
Constitution of the United States, purposes of. Preamble, p. 445,
Constitution, laws, and treaties shall be the supreme law of the land.

Art. VI., cl. 2, p. 458.
Constitution, oath to support, by whom taken. Art. VI., cl. 3, p. 458.
ordained and established by the people, and not by the States.

Preamble, p. 445.
the President, before entering on the execution of his office, takes
the official oath. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 7, p. 454.
Crimes, how prosecuted and tried. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 456.

D.

DEATH or removal from office of the President, the same shall de-
volve upon the Vice President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5, p. 453.

Debts, all contracted before the adoption of the Constitution, valid.
Art. VI., cl. 1, p. 458.

District of Columbia, Congress to exercise exclusive legislation, &c. ;
also, in forts, magazines, dock yards, &c. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 1 7,
p. 450.

Domestic tranquillity, to insure. Preamble, p. 445.

E.

EACH State to give credit to the Public Acts, &c., of every other State.

Art. IV., sec. 1, p. 456.
Election of President and Vice President. Amend. Art. XII., p. 462,
Electors to vote on same day. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 3, p. 453.
Electors of President and Vice President, number, and how appointed.

Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 2, p. 452.

32

498 INDEX TO THE

Excessive bail, or fines and cruel punishments, prohibited. Amend. Art

Vm., p. 461.
Export duty, no tax or export duty shall be laid. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 5,

p. 451.
Ex post facto law, no State shall pass any. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 1, p. 452.

F.

FREEDOM of speech and of the press. Amend. Art. I., p. 460.
Fugitives from justice to be delivered up. Art. IV., sec. 2, cL 2, p. 456.
Fugitive slaves. Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 457.

G.

GRAND JURY, in crimes. Amend. Art. V^ p. 461.

H.

HABEAS CORPUS, shall not be suspended, unless, &c. Art. L, sec.

9, cl. 2, p. 451.
House of Representatives, how and by whom chosen. Art. I., sec. 2,

cl. 1, p. 445.
choose their oflScers, and have the sole power of impeachment.

Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 5, p. 446.

I.

IMPEACHMENT, power of, in House of Representatives. Art, I.,
sec. 2, cl. 5, p. 446.
trial of, in Senate. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447.
when President is tried. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447.
• who are liable to. Art. IL, sec. 4, p. 455.
judgment in cases of, limited. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 7, p. 447.
Indictment, persons convicted on impeachment, subject to. Art. L, sec

3, cl. 7, p. 447.
Inventors may secure patents. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 8, p. 450.

6
J.

JUDGES of every State bound by the Constitution, laws, and treaties.
Art. VI., cl. 2, p. 458.
appointment of. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 499

Judges, tenure of office. Art. III., sec. 1, cl. 1.
compensation of. Art. III., sec. 1, cl. 1.
Judicial power of the United States, how vested. Art. Ill, sec. 1,
p. 455.
to what cases it extends. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 1, p. 455. See

Amendment. Art. XL, p. 462.
original jurisdiction of Supreme Court. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2,

p. 456.
appellate jurisdiction. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 456.
trial by jury, except, &c. Art. III., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 456.
shall not be construed to extend to prosecutions against a State
by a citizen of another State, or by foreigners. Amend. Art.
XL, p. 462.
Justice, to establish. Preamble, p. 445.

L.

LEGISLATIVE powers, in whom vested. Art. I., sec. 1, p. 445.
Liberty, to secure the blessings of. Preamble, p. 445.

M.

MANNER of choosing President and Vice President. Amend. Art

XII., cl. 1, p. 462.
Migration, or importation of certain persons. Art. L, sec. 9, cl. 1, p. 45L
Mode of passing laws. Art. L, sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448.
Money, none to be drawn from the treasury but by law. Art. I., sec. 9,
cl. 7, p. 451.
statement and account of all public money shall be published.
Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 7, p. 451.
Militia, the right to keep and bear arms. Amend. Art. II., p. 460.
power of Congress over. Art. L, sec. 8, els. 15 and 16, p. 450.
States to officer and train. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 16, p. 450.

N.

NATURALIZATION. Art. L, sec. 8, cl. 4, p. 449.

Navy, power to provide and maintain a. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 13,. p. 450.

Nobility, no title of, to be granted. Art. 1., sec. 9, cl. 8, p. 451.

o.

OATH of President, before he enters on the execution of his office
Art. XL, see. 1, cl. 7, p. 454.

500 INDEX TO THE

Oath, to support the Constitution, by whom taken. Art. VI., cl. 3,
p. 458.
no warrants shall issue, but upon. Amend. Art. IV., p. 460.
OflSicers of the United States cannot receive presents without consent of
Congress. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 8, p. 451.

P.

PEOPLE of the United States do ordain and establish this Constitu-
tion. Preamble, p. 445.

Persons held to service or labor in one State, having escaped into an-
other, to be delivered up. Art. IV., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 457.
indicted for crime shall not be compelled to be a witness against
themselves. Amend. Art. V., p. 461.

Petition, right of. Amend. Art. I., p. 460.

Power of Congress over territory and other property. Art. IV., sec. 3,
cl. 2, p. 457.

Power to try impeachments. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 6, p. 447.

Powers not delegated to the United States are reserved to the States or
people. Amend. Art. X., p. 462.

President of the Senate, his right to vote. Art. I., sec. 4, el. 4, p. 447.

President of the Senate pro tempore, and other officers, how chosen.
Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 5, p. 447.

President and Vice President, their terms of office. Art. IL, sec. 1, cl. 1,
p. 452.

President, to be commander in chief ; he may require opinions of execu-
tive departments, and may pardon. Art. IL, sec. 2, cl. 1,
p. 451.
he shall have power, with advice and consent of Senate, to
make treaties, to nominate ambassadors, ministers, consuls,
judges, &c. Art. IL, sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454.
shall have power to fill vacancies during the recess. Art. IL,

sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454.
shall communicate to Congress information of the state of the
Union ; he may convene and adjourn Congress, in case, &c. ;
shall receive ambassadors, &c. ; take care that the laws be prop-
erly executed, and shall commission all officers of the United
States. Art. II,, sec. 3, p. 454.

Private property not to be taken for public use without compensation.
Amend. Art. V., p. 461.

provisions concerning prosecutions, trials, and punishments. Amend.
Art. v., p. 461.

Purposes for which the Constitution was ordained and established. Pre-
amble, p. 445.

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 501

QUALIFICATIONS of a representative. Art. L, sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 445.
of a senator. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 3, p. 446.
of President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 4, p. 453.
of Vice President. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 3, p. 463.
Quorum, a majority of each house shall constitute a. Art. I., sec. 5,
cl. 1, p. 447.
in the house for the election of President. Amend. Art. XII.,
cl. 1, p. 462.

E.

REPRESENTATIVES and direct taxes, how apportioned. Art. L,

sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 445.
Republican form of government guarantied to every State. Art. IV,

sec. 4, p. 457.
Religious test, none required Art. VI., cl. 3, p. 458.
Ratification of the Constitution. Art. VII., p. 458.
Religious establishment prohibited. Amend. Art. I., p. 460.
Revenue bills to originate in the House. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 1, p. 448.
Right of petition. Amend. Art. I., p. 460.

Right of search and seizure regulated. Amend. Art. IV., p. 460.
Right of trial by jury secured. Amend. Art. VII., p. 461.
Rule of construction of certain rights. Amend. Art. IX., p. 461

s.

SENATE, the, have sole power to try impeachments. Art. I., sec. 3,

cl. 6, p. 447.
to choose a president in the absence of the Vice President.

Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 5, p. 447.
Senators, how and by whom chosen. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 446.
classified. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 446.
how temporary vacancies may be filled. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2,

p. 446.
Soldiers not to be quartered in any house, unless, &c. Amend; Art.

III., p. 460.
State, each to be protected against invasion. Art. IV., sec. 4, p. 457.
States, new, admitted into the Union, Art. IV., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 457.
States prohibited from the exercise of certain powers. Art. I., sec. 10,

els. 1, 2, and 3, p. 452.
Supremacy of the Constitution, laws, and treaties. Art. VI., cl. 2. p. 458.

502

INDEX TO THE

T.

TAXES, power of Congress to lay. Art. I., sec. 8, cl. 1, p. 449.

how apportioned. Art. I., sec. 9, cl. 4, p. 451.
Times, &c., of holding elections, how prescribed. Art. I., sec. 4, cl. 1,

p. 447.
Treason, definition of, and proof of. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 1, p. 456.

punishment of. Art. III., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 456.
Treasury, all duties and imposts laid by any State shall be for the use
of the treasury of the United States. Art. I., sec. 10, cl. 2,
p. 452.
no money shall be drawn from the, but by law. Art. I., sec. 9,
cl. 7, p. 451.
Treaty-making power. Art. IL, sec. 2, cl. 2, p. 454.

u.

UNION, to form a more perfect. Preamble, p. 445.

V.

VACANCIES in the House, how filled. Art. I., sec. 2, cl. 4, p. 446.

in the Senate, how filled. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 2, p. 446.

when President may fill. Art. II., sec. 2, cl. 3, p. 454.

in ofiice of President and Vice President. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5,
p. 453.
Veto or negative, President's. Art. I., sec. 7, cl. 2, p. 448.
Vice President, how chosen. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 2, p. 463.

president of the Senate. Art. I., sec. 3, cl. 4, p. 447.

duration of office. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 1, p. 452.

qualifications of. Amend. Art. XII., cl. 3, p. 463.

in case of removal of the President from office, the same shall
devolve on the. Art. II., sec. 1, cl. 5, p. 463.

WELFAKE, general, to promote the. Preamble, p. 445.

Witness against himself, no person compelled to be a. Amend. Art. V,

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 503

TEAS and nays, to be entered on the jonmal. Art. I., see. 5, el. 3,
p. 448.
to be taken on all bills returned by the President Art. I., sec. 7
cl. 2, p. 449.

INDEX

TO WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS.

American, on the name of, 468.

Commerce, general policy in regard to, 479.
Constitution, federal, to be maintained, 467.

Farewell address of President Washington, 465.
Foreign influence to be particularly guarded against, 478.
Foreign nations, policy in regard to, 479.

Government, to be respected and obeyed, 471.
baneful eflFects of party spirit in, 473.

Justice and good faith, to be the basis of proceedings with all nationi,
476.

Laws, should be complied with, 471.

Mississippi River, 471.

Party spirit, baneful effects of, 473.

Public credit of the United States, method of preserving, 476.

Public debt, 476.

Union of the States, liable to be assailed, 467.

advantages from, 469.

in danger from geographical discriminations, 470.

(504)

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The purpose of this volume is to exhibit the evils that flow t om *iie to«
common lack of prudence.

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS,

HOME SCENES.
i2mo. Cloth. Price $i.oo.

This Book is designed to aid in the work of overcoming what is evil and
■elfish, that home lights may dispel home shadows.

THE OLD MAN'S BRIDE.
l2mo. Cloth. Price $i.oo.
This is a powerfully written Book, showing the folly of unequal marriages.

ADVICE TO YOUNG LADIES ON THEIR DUTIES AND
CONDUCT IN LIFE.

By T. S. Ar-thur. a new and greatly enlarged edition. l2mo.,
cloth. Steel plate. Price $i.oo.

ADVICE TO YOUNG MEN ON VARIOUS IMPORTANT

SUBJECTS.

By T. S. Arthur. A new and greatly enlarged edition. i2mo.,
cloth. SteJ plate. Price $i.oo.

TWENTY YEARS AGO AND NOW.

By T. S. Arthur, izmo., cloth, mezzotint engraving. Price
$i.oo

BIOGRAPHIES.

LIFE AND EXPLORATIONS OF DR. E. K. KANE,

And other Distinguished American Explorers. Including Ledyard^.
Wilkes, Perry, &c. Containing narratives of their researches
and adventures in remote and interesting portions of the Globe.
By Samuel M. Smucker, LL.D. With a Hne Mezzotint Por-
trait of Dr. Kane, in his Arctic costume. Price $i.oo.

THE LIFE AND REIGN OF NICHOLAS L,

EUnperor of Russia. With descriptions of Russian Society and
Government, and a full and complete History of the War in
the East. Also, Sketches of Schamyl, the Circassian, an- other
Distinguished Characters. By S. M. Smucker, LL.D. Beautifully
Illustrated. Over 400 pages, large izmo. Price $1.25.

THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE OF DAN'L WEBSTER.
Bv Gen. S. p. Lymak. izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

THE MASTER SPIRIT OF THE AGE.

THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HISTORY OF NAPOLEON

THE THIRD.

With Biographical Notices of his most Distinguished Ministers,
Generals and Favorites. By S. M. Smucker, LL.D. This in-
teresting and valuable work is embellished with splendid steel
plates, done by Sartain in his best style, including the Emperor,
the Empress, Queen Hortense, and the Countess Castiglione.
400 pages, izmo. Price $1.25.

MEMOIRS OF ROBERT HOUDIN,

The celebrated French Conjuror. Translated from the French.
With a copious Index. By Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie. This
book is full of interesting and entertaining anecdotes of the great
Wizard, and gives descriptions of the manner of performing
many of hia most curious tricks and transformations, izmo.,
cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF DAVID CROCKETT.

Written by himself, with Notes and Additions. Splendidly illus-
trated with engravings, from original designs. By George G
White, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE AND TIMES OF DANIEL BOONE.

Including an account of the Early Settlements of Kentucky. By
Cecil B. Hartley. With splendid illustrations, from original
drawings by George G. White, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF LEWIS WETZEL.
Together with Biographical Sketches of Simon Kenton, Benjamin
Logan, Samuel Brady, Isaac Shelby, and other distinguished
Warriors and Hunters of the West. By Cecil B. Hartley.
With splendid illustrations, from original drawings by George
G.White, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE AND TIMES OF GENERAL FRANCIS MARION,

The Hero of the American Revolution ; giving full accounts ol

his many perilous adventures and hair-breadth escapes amongst

the British and Tories in the Southern States, during the struggle

for liberty. By W. Gilmore Simms. izmo., cloth. $1.00.

6 LIST OF BOOKS FUBLISHEO BY G. G. EVANS.

LIFE OF GENERAL SAMUEL HOUSTON,

The Hunter, Patriot, and Statesman of Texas. With nine illiu-
trations. i2mo», cloth. Price $i.oo.

LIVES OF GENERAL HENRY LEE AND GENERAL
THOMAS SUMPTER.

Comprising a History of the War in the Southern Department of
the United States. Illustrated, izmo, cloth. $i.oo.

DARING & HEROIC DEEDS OF AMERICAN WOMEN.

Comprising Thrilling Examples of Courage, Fortitude, Devoted-
ness, and Self-Sacrifice, among the Pioneer Mothers of the
Western Country. By John Frost, LL.D. Price $i.oo.

LIVES OF FEMALE MORMONS.

A Narrative of facts Stranger than Fiction. By Metta Victoria
Fuller, izmo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

LIVES OF ILLUSTRIOUS WOMEN OF ALL AGES.

Containing the Empress Josephine, Lady Jane Gray, Beatrice
Cenci, Joan of Arc, Anne Boleyn, Charlotte Corday, Zenobia,
&c., &c. Embellished with Fine Steel Portraits. i2mo., cbth.
Price $i.oo.

THE LIVES AND EXPLOITS OF THE MOST NOTED
BUCCANEERS & PIRATES OF ALL COUNTRIES.

Handsomely illustrated, i vol. Cloth. Price $i.oo.

HIGHWAYMEN, ROBBERS AND BANDITTI OF ALL

COUNTRIES.

With Colored and other Engravings. Handsomely bound in one
volume. i2mo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

HEROES AND PATRIOTS OF THE SOUTH;

Comprising Lives of General Francis Marion, General William
Moultrie, General Andrew Pickens, and Governor John
Rutledge. By Cecil B. Hartley. Illustrated, i2mo., cloth.
Price $ I. GO.

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

KIT CARSON.

Life of Christopher Carson, the celebrated Rocky Mountain
Hunter, Trapper and Guide, with a full description of his
Hunting Exploits, Hair-breadth Escapes, and adveniures with
the Indians ; together with his services rendered the United
States Government, as Guide to the various Exploring Expedi-
tions under J^b.n C. Fremont and others. By Charles Burdett.
With six illustrations, izmo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GEORGE WASHINGTON.

By S. M. Smucker, LL.D., author of " The Life o{ Thomas
JefFerson," *'Life of Alexander Hamilton," etc., etc. izmo.,
cloth, with Steel Portrait. Price $1.00.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF HENRY CLAY.

By S. M. Smucker, LL.D., author of the ** Lives o<^ Washington,"
"Jefferson," etc. izmo., cloth. Steel Portrait. Price $1.00.

LIFE OF ANDREW' JACKSON.

Containing an Authentic History of the Memorable Achievements
of the American Army under General Jackson, before New
Orleans. By Alexander Walker, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

By O. L. Holley. With Steel Portrait and six Illustrations,
izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

LIVES OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. .

By B. J. LossiNG. Steel Frontispiece, and fifty portraits, izmo.,
cloth. Price $1.00.

LIFE OF CAPT. JOHN SMITH OF VIRGINIA.
By W. Gillmore Simm3. Illustrated, izmo., cloth. Price, $1 00

THE THREE MRS. JUDSONS,

The Female Missionaries. By Cecil B. Hartley. A new and
carefully revised edition, with steel portraits, izmo. Price,
$1 00.

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

INGRAHAM'S THREE GREAT WORKS.

THE

Prince of the House of David ^

Or, Three Years in the Holy City. Being a series of the let-
ters of Adina, a Jewess of Alexandria, supposed to be sojourning
in Jerusalem in the days of Herod, addressed to her Father a
wealthy Jew in Egypt, and relating, as if by an eye-witness, all
the scenes and wonderful incidents in the life of Jesus of Naz-
areth, from his Baptism in Jordan to his Crucifixion on Calvary
New edition, carefully revised and corrected by the author.
Rev. J. H. Ingraham, LL.D., Rector of Christ Church, and
St. Thomas' Hall, Holly Springs, Miss. With five splendid
illustrations, one large izmo., volume, cloth. Price, $i 25.
Full Gilt sides and edges. Price ^2.00.

The same work in German- izmo., cloth. Price, $1.25.

THE PILLAR OF FIRE;

Or, Israel in Bondage. Being an account of the Wonderful
Scenes in the Life of the Son of Pharaoh's Daughter, (Moses).
Together with Picturesque Sketches of the Hebrews under their
Task-masters. By Rev. ]. H. Ingraham, LLD., author of the
** Prince of the House of David." With steel Frontispiece.
Large izmo., cloth. Price, $1 35; the same work, full gilt
sides and edges. Price, $2 00.

THE THRONE OF DAVID;

Prom the Consecration, of the Shepherd of Bethlehem, to the Re-
bellion of Prince x'^bsalom Being an illustration of the Splendor,
Power and Dominion of the Reign of the Shepherd, Poet,
Warrior, King and Prophet, Ancestor and type of Jesus, address-
ed by an Assyrian Ambassador, resident at the Court of Jeru-
salem, to his Lord and King on the Throne of Nineveh; where-
in the magnificence of Assyria, as well as the magnificence ot
Judea, is presented to the reader as by an eye-witness. By the
Rev. J. H. Ingraham, LL.D., Rector of Christ Church and
St. Thomas' Hall, Holly Springs, Miss., author of the "Prince
of the House of David" and the " Pillar of Fire." With five
splendid illustrations. Large izmo., cloth. Price $1 zij ; the
same work, full gilt sides and edges. Price, $z 00.

i

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

The Sunny South ;

OR,

THE SOUTHERNER AT HOME.

EMBRACING

Five years' experience of a Northern Governess in the Land of the
Sugar and the Cotton. Edited by Professor J. H. Ingraham,
of Miss. Large i2mo., cloth. Price, $i 25.

A BUDGET OF

HUMOROUS POETRY,

COMPRISING

Specimens of the best and most Humorous Productions of the
popular American and Foreign Poetical Writers of the day.
By the author of the *' Book of Anecdotes and Budget of
Fun." One volum.e, izmo., cloth. Price $1 00.

The World in a Pocket Book,

BY "*

WILLIAM H. CRUMP.

NEW AND REVISED EDITION, BROUGHT DOWN TO

i860.

This work is a Compendium of Useful Knowledge and General
Reference, dedicated to the Manufacturers, Farmers, Merchants,
and Mechanics of the United States — to all, in short, with whom
time is money — and whose business avocations render the acqui-
sition of extensive and diversified information desirable, by the
shortest possible road. This volume, it is hoped, will be found
worthy of a place in every household — in every family. It
may indeed be termed a library in itself. Large i2mo. Price,

^I 2(J.

lO LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

THE SPIRIT LAND.

l2mo., cloth, with Mezzotint Engraving. Price ^i.oo.

• " Thesd pap^es are submitted to the public with the counsel of the wisest
tnd best of all ages, that amid the •wiley arts of the Adversary, we should cling
to the word of God, the Bible, as the only safe and infallible guide of faith
And Practice."

THE MORNING STAR ; or. Symbols of Christ.

By Re\ Wm. M. Thayer, author of " Hints for the Household,"
" Pastor's Holiday Gift," &c., &c. i zmo., cloth. Price $i.oo

" The symbolical parts of Scriptures are invested with peculiar attractions.
A familiar acquaintanc* with them can scarcely fail to increase respect and
love for the Bible."

SWEET HOME ; or. Friendship's Golden Altar.

By Frances C. Percival. Mezzotint Frontispiece, i2mo., cloth,
gilt back and centre. Price $i.oo.

"The object of this book is to awaken the Memories of Home — to remind
tts of the old Scenes and old Times."

THE DESERTED FAMILY ;

Or, the Wanderings of an Outcast. By Paul Creyton. i 2mo.,
cloth. Price $i.oo.

"An interesting story, which might exert a good influence in softening the
heart, warming the affections, and elevating the soul."

ANNA CLAYTON; or, the Mother's Trial,
A Tale of Real Life. i2mo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

"The principal characters in this tale are drawn from real life — imagina-
tion cannot picture deeper shades of sadness, higher or more exquisite jors,
than Truth has woven for us, in the Mother's Trial."

" FASHIONABLE DISSIPATION."

By Metta V. Fuller. Mezzotint Frontispiece, i2mo., bound m
cloth. Price fi.oo.

THE OLD FARM HOUSE.

By Mrs. Caroline H. Butler Laing, with six splendid Illustra-
tions, izmo., cloth, Price $i.oo.

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. O. EVANS. II

" TO THE PURE ALL THINGS ARK PURE."

WOMAN AND HEPx DISEASES.

From the Cradle to the Grave ; adapted exclusively to her instruc-
cion in the Physiology of her system, and aJl the Diseases of her
Critical Periods. By Edward H. Dixon, M.D. izmo. Price
$i.oo.

DR. LIVINGSTONE'S TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES
OF SIXTEEN YEARS IN THE WILDS OF SOUTH
AFRICA.

One volume, izmo., cloth, fine edition, printed upon superior
paper, with numerous illustrations. Price $1.25. Cheap edi-
tion, price $1.00,

This is a work of thrilling adventures and hair-breadtb escapes among
Bavage beasts, and more savage men. Dr. Livingstone was alone, and unaid-
ed by any white man, traveling only with African attendants, aaiong different
tribes and nations, all strange to him, and many of thoLa hostile, and alto-
gether forming the most astonishing book of travels the world has ever
seen. All acknowledge it is the most readable book published.

ANDERSSON'S EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES.

Giving accounts of many P^-'lous Adventures, and Thrilling Inci-
dents, during Four Years* Wanderings in the Wilds of South
Western Africa. By C. ]. Andersson, LL.D., F.R.S. With
an Introductory Letter, by J. C. Fremont. One volume, izmo.,
cloth. With Numerous Illustrations. Price, $1.25.

INDIA AND THE INDIAN MUTINY.

Comprising a Complete History of Hindoostan, from the earliest
times to the present day, with full particulars of the Recent
Mutiny in India. Illustrated with numerous engravings. By
Henry Frederick Malcom. Large izmo., volume of about
450 pages. Price, $i.z5.

THE UNION TEXT BOOK.
Containing Selections from the Writings and Speeches of
Daniel Webster. The .Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution of the United States, Wa?^hington's Farewell Ad-
dress, Sec, with Steel Portrait. Large izmo., 1J04 pages. Cloth.
Price, $1.00.

12 LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

SEVEN YEARS IN THE WILDS OF SIBERIA,

A Narrative of Seven Years' Explorarions and Adventures in
Oriental and Western Siberia, Mongolia, the Kir his Steppes,
Chinese Tartary, and Part of Central Asia. By Thomas
William Atkinson. With numerous Illustrations, i zmo., clc th,
price $1.25.

SIX YEARS IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL AFRICA.

Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, being a
Journal of an Expedition undertaken undei the aus[)ices of
H. B. M.'s Government, in the years 1849-1855. By Henry
Barth, Ph. D., D.C.L., Fellow of the Royal Geographical and
Asiatic Societies, &c., &c. izmo., cloth, price Si. 25.

THREE VISITS TO MADAGASCAR

During the years 1853, 1854, 1856, including a journey to the
Capital ; with notices of the Natural History of the Country
and of the present Civilization of the People, by the Rev. Wm.
Ellis, F.H.S., author of ** Polynesian Researches." Illustrated
by engravings from photographs, &;c. i zmo., cloth. $1.25.

CAPT. COOK'S VOYAGES ROUND THE WORLD.
One volume, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

BOOK OF ANECDOTES AND BUDGET OF FUN.

Containing a collection of over One Thousand Laughable Sayings,
Rich Jokes, etc. izmo., cloth, extra gilt back, $1.00.

" Nothing is so well calculated to preferve the healthful action of the
human system as a good hearty laugh."

BOOK OF PLAYS FOR HOME AMUSEMENT.

Being a collection of Original, Altered and well-selected Tragedies,
Comedies, Dramas, Farces, Burlesques, Charades, Comic Lec-
tures, etc. Carefully arranged and specially adapted for Private
Representation, with full directions for Performance. By Silas
S. Steele, Dramatist. One volume, i zmo., cloth. Price $ i .00.

LIST OF BOOKS FUBLrSHED BY G. G. EVAKS. 1 3

A HISTORY OF ITALY,

AND THE WAR OF 1859.

Giving the causes of tKe War, with Biographical Sketches of Sov-
eieigns, Statesmen and Military Commanders; Descriptions and
Statistics of the Country ; with finely engraved Portraits of Louis
Napoleon* Emperor of France Frances Joseph, Emperor of
Austria; Victor Emanuel, King of Sardinia, and Garribaldi, the
Champion of Italian Freedom. Together with the official ac-
counts of the Battles of Montebcllo, Palestro, Magenta, Maleg-
nano, Solferino, etc., etc., and Maps of Italy, Austria, and. aiJ
the adjacent Countries, by

MADAME JULIE DE MAPvGUERITTES.

With an introduction by Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie, one volume,
121110., cloth, price S1.25.

NOBLE DEEDS OF THE GREAT ANE) BRAVE OF ALL
AGES AND NATIONS.

Selected as examples for the emulation of Youth, with numerous
Illustrations, i zmo.. Cloth, Gilt Back. Price, $j. 00. -

THE BOOK OF POPULAR SONGS.

Being a compendium of the best Sentimental, Comic, Negro, Nation-
al, Patiiotic, Military, Naval, Social, Convivial, and Patheuic
Ballads and Melodies, as sung by the most celebrated Opeia
Singers, Negro Minstrels, and Comic Vocalists of the day.

One volume, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

THE AMERICAN PRACTICAL COOKERY BOOK;

Or, Housekeeping made easy, pleasant, and cconmical in all its
departments. To which are added directions for setting out
Tables, and giving Entertainments. Directions for Jointing,
Trussing, and Carving, and many hundred new Receipts in
Cookerv and Housekeeping. With 50 engravings, i zmo.,
cloth. Price $1.00.

14 L15T OF BOOKS PVBLI5HEB BY O. G. EVANS.

RECORDS OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.

Containing the Military and Financial Correspondence of distin-
guished officers; names of the officers and privates of regiments,
companies and corps, with the dates of their commissions and
enlistments. General orders of Washington, Lee, and Green ;
with a list of distinguished prisoners of war ; the time of their
capture, exchange, etc.; to which is added the half-pay acts of
the Continental Congress ; the Revolutionary pension laws ; and
a list of the officers of the Continental army who acquired the
right to half-pay, commutation, and lands, &c. By T, W, Saf-
FELL. Large i2mo., $1.25.

THE ROMANCE OF THE REVOLUTION.

being a history of the personal adventures, romantic incidents and
exploits incidental to the War of Independence — with tinted
illustrations. Large izmo., $1.25.

THE QUEEN'S FATE.

A talc of the days of Herod. i2mo., cloth, with Steel Illustra-
tions. $1.00.

"A recital of events, of an awe-arousing period, in a familiar and interest-
ing manner."

"LFVING AND LOVING."

A collection of Sketches. By Miss Virginia F. Townsend. —

Large i2mo., with fme steel portrait of the author. Bound in
cluth. Price 81.00.

We might eay many things in favor of this delightful publication, but we
deem it unnecessary. Husbands should buy it for their wives : lovers should
buy it fur their sweet-hearts : friends should buy it for their friends. — Godey^s
Lady^s Book,

WHILE IT WAS MORNING.

By Virginia F. Townsend, author of V Living and Loving.**
l2mo., cloth. Price 81.00.

THE ANGEL VISITOR ; or. Voices of the Heart.
i2mo., cloth, with Mezzotint Engraving. Price $1.00.
" The mission of this volume is to aid in doing good to those in affliction.*

LIST OF BOOKS PL'BI.ISHED BY G. G. EVANS. 1 5

THE LADIES' HAND BOOK

OF

Fancy and Ornamental Needle-Work.

COMPRISING

Full directions with patterns for working in Embroidery, Appliqut,
Braiding, Crochet, Knitting, Netting, Tatting, Quilting, Tam-
bour aud Gobelin Tapestry, Brodcrie Anglaise, Guipure Work,
Canvass Work, Worsted Work, Lace Work, Bead Work,
Stitching, Patch Work, FrivoHte, &c. Illustrated with 262
Engraved Patterns, taken from original de^igns. By Miss
Florence Hartley. One volume, Quarto Cloth. Price,

$1 2Z.

The Ladies' Book of EtiquettCj

AND

MANUAL OF POLITENESS.

A Hand Book for the use of Ladies in Polite Society. By
Florence Hartley. i2mo., cloth. Price, %\ 00.

The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette,

AND

MA.NUAL OF POLITENESS."

Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in ail his
relations toward Society. By Cecil B. Hartley. lamo.
Price, $1 00

1 6 LIST OF BOOKS FUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

LECTURES FOR THE PEOPLE:

BY THE

Rev. H. STOWELL BROWN,

Of tht Myrtlt Street Baftist Chapel^ Liverpool^ England,

First Series, published under a special arrangement with the author.
With a Biographical introduction by Dr. R. Shelton Mackenzie.
With a splendidly engraved Steel Portrait. One vol., 414 pages,
izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

Mr» Brown'a lectures fill an important place, for which we have no other
book. The style is clear, the spirit is kind, the reasoning careful, and tha
argument conclusive. We are persuaded that this book will render mor'e
good than any book of sermons or lectures that have been published in thia
lyth century. — Liverpool Mercury.

THE HOME ROOK OF HEALTH AND MEDICINE;

Or, The Laws and Means of Physical Culture, adapted to
practical use. Embracing a treatise on Dyspepsia, Digestion,
Breathing, Ventilation, Laws of the Skin, Consumption, how
prevented ; Clothing, Food, Exercise, Rest, &c. By W. A.
Alcott, M. D. With ^i illustrations. Large i2mo. Price,
$1.25.

LIFE OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE,

First Wife of Napoleon I, Illustrated with Steel Portraits. •By
]. T. Laurens, author of "Heroes and Patriots of the South."
l2mo. cloth. Price, $1.00.

LIVES OF THE HEROES OF THE AMERICAN
REVOLUTION.

Comprising the Lives of Washington and his Generals. The
Declaration of Independence. The Constitution of the United
Slates. The Inaugural, First Annual. and Farewell Addresses
of Washington. With Portraits. i2mo., cloth. Price $1.00

COLUMBA; A Tale of Corsica.

By Prosper Merimee. As a picture of Corsican life and manners,
Coiumba is unequalled. In one handsome volume. Price $1.00

LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS. 1 7

LIGHTS AND SHADOWS OF A PASTOR'S LIFE.
By S. H. Elliott. One volume, izmo., cloth. Price $i.oo

" This is a well-written, highly instructive book. It is a story of tho life
teachings, and life-trials of a good man, whose great aim was to elevate,
morally and intellectually, his fellow-men. Like many of his nature and
temperament, some of his views were Utopian. But his successes and
failures, with the causes of these, are painted with a masterly hand. Thoro
is unusual strength a»d vitality in this volume."

THREE PER CENT. A MONTPI;

Or, the Perils of Fast Living. A Warning to Young Men.
By Chas. Burdett. One volume, i2mo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

"The style of this book is direct and effective, particularly fitting tho
impression which such a story should make. It is a very spirited and in-
Btructive tale, leaving a good impression both upon the reader's sensibilities
and morals."

EVENINGS AT HOME;

Or, Tales for the Fireside. By Jane C. Campbell. One
volume, i2mo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

" We know of no book in the whole range of modern fictitious literature
we would sooner select for a delightful and Instructive companion."

RURAL LIFE;

Or, Prose and Poetry of the Woods and Fields. By Harry
Penciller. One volume, cloth, i2mo. Price $i.oo.

" Beautiful landscapes, family scones and conversations, rural sketches of
woods and vales, of the beauties of verdant fields and fragrant flowers, of
the music of birds and running brooks, all described in an original and un-
studied manner, which cannot fail to delight every one whose character ia
imbued with a love of nature."

JOYS AND SORROWS OF HOME;

An Autobiography. By Anna Leland. One volume, !2rrio.
cloth. Pr^ce $i.oo

"This ia one of the most beautiful domestic stories we have over read,
Intensely irteresting, with a natural flow and easiness which leads tho read^^r
Imporceptibly en to the close, and then leaves a reijret that the tale is uonc."

1 8 LIST OP BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS.

BEAUTY OF WOMAN'S FAITH;

A Tale of Southern Life. One volume, i2ino., cloth. Price
$1 oo.

** This volume contains the story of a French Emigrant, who first escaped
to England, aad afterward settled on a plantation in Louisiana. It is charm-
luglj told, and the strength and endurance of woman's faith well Dlustrated."

THE ORPHAN BOY;

Or, Lights and Shadows of Northern Life. By Jeremy Loud.
One volume, izmo., cloth. Price 3i.oo.

"This is a work illustrating the passions and pleasures, the trials and tri-
umphs of common life; it is well written and the interest is admirably sus-
tained."

THE ORPHAN GIRLS;

A Tale of Life in the South. By James S. Peacock, M.D.,
of Mississippi. One volume, izmo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

"The style is fluent and unforced, the description of character well limned,
and the pictures of ecenery forcible and felicitous. There is a natural con-
veyance of incidents to the denouement, and the reader closes the volume with
ua. increased regard for the talent and spirit of the author."

NEW ENGLAND BOYS;

Or, the Three Apprentices. By A. L. Stimson. One volume,
i2mo.. Cloth. Price $i co.

" This is ft very agreeable book, written in a dashing independent style. The
incidents are numerous and striking, the characters life-like, and the plot
suflBciently captirating to enchain the reader's attention to the end of the
volume."

THE KING'S ADVOCATE;

Or, the Adventures of a Witch Finder. One volume, izmo.,
cloth. Price $i.oo.

"This is a book so thoroughly excellent, so exalted in its character, so full
of exquisite pictures of society, and manifesting so much genius, skill, and
knowledge of human nature, that no one can possibly read it without admit-
ting it to be, in every way, a noble book. The story, too, is one of stirring
interest ; and it either sweeps you along with it3 powerful spell, ox beguiles
you with its tenderness, pathos and geniality."

LIST OF B00IC3 PUBLISHED BY O. G. EVANS. 1 9

SIBYL MONROE; or, THE FORGER'S DAUGHTER.
By Martha Russell. One volume, izmo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

" It is a spirited, charming story, full of adventure, friendship and loye, with
characters nicely drawn and carefully discriminated. The clear style and
Efijrit with which the story is presented and the characters developed, will
attract a large constituency to the perusal."

THE OPEN BIBLE;

As shown in the History of Christianity, from the time of our
Saviour to the Present Day. By Vincent W. Millner. With
a view of the latest developments of Rome's hostility to the
Bible, as exhibited in the Sandwich Islands, in Tuscany, in
Ireland, France, &c., and an expose of the absurdities of the
Immaculate Conception, and the Idolatrous Veneration of the
Virgin Mary. By Rev. Joseph F. Berg, D. D., author of
"The Jesuits," "Church and State," &c., &c. Illustrated with
numerous Engravings, izmo., cloth, gilt back. Price $i.oo.

LIFE OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES.

By the Rev. John Fleetwood. With a History of the Jews, from
the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Large i2mo., bound
in Cloth. Illustrated. Price $l.oo.
Octavo edition, with steel engravings. Turkey Antique, $3.50.

BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.

Including, "Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners." Large
1 2mo., 500 pages. Cloth. Beautifully Illustrated. Price$i.oo.
Octavo edition, with steel engravings. Turkey Antique, $3.50,

SCRIPTURE EMBLEMS AND ALLEGORIES.

Being a series of Emblematic Engravings, with explanations and
religious reflections, designed to illustrate Divine Truth. By
Rev, W. Holmes, izmo., cloth. Price $1.25.

HOME MEMORIES;
Or, Social half hours with the Household.

Octavo, 400 pages. Illustrated v/ith fine stee^ plates. Cloth,
Price $2.00. Turkey Antique, $3.50.

to LIST OF BOOKS PUBLISHED BY G. G. EVAKTS.

EVANS' POPULAR SPEAKER,

Lyceum and School Exhibition Declaimer.

Comprising a Treatise on Elocution and Gesture, with Illustrations,
and a choice collection of pieces in Prose and Verse, and selec
Dialogues, specially adapted for School and Lyceum Exhibitions,
and Private Representations. i2mo., cloth. Price $i.oo.

PANORAMA OF THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW;

Comprising a view of the present state of the Nations of the World,
their Names, Customs and Peculiarities, and their Political,
Moral, Social and Industrial Condition. Interspersed with
Historical Sketches and Anecdotes. By William Pinnock,
author of the Histories of England, Greece and RomiC. Enlarged,
revised and embellished with several hundied Engravings,
including twenty- four finely colored Plates, from designs by
Croomc, Devcreux, and other distinguished artists. In one vol.
Octavo, over 600 pages, bound in embossed morocco, gilt back.
Price $2.75.

THRILLING INCIDENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Pidng a selection of the most important and interesting events which
have transpired since the discovery of America to the present
time. Compiled from the most approved authorities, new edition
enlarged. Splendidly illustrated, izmo., cloth. Price $i. 00.

THE HOLY LAND, AND EGYPT, ARABIA PETR^A, &c.

Travels in Eg}'pt, Arabia Petn^a, and the Holy Land. By D.
Millard. A new and improved edition. Illustrated, izmo.,
cloth. Price $100.

HUNTING SCENES IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA.

Comprising the Thrilling Adventures of Gumming, Harris, and
other daring Hunters of Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, Buffaloes,
and other Animals. With Illustrations. 1 2m.o., cloth. GiJt
back. Price $1.00.

LIST OK BOOKS rtJBLISHED BY G. G. EVANS. JSt

THE BATTLE FIELDS OF THE REVOLUTION.

Gomprising descriptions of the Different Battles, Sieges, and other
Ev^ents of the War of Independence. Interspersed with Char-
acteristic Anecdotes. Illustrated with numerous Engravings,
and a iine Mezzotint Frontispiece. By Thomas Y. Rhoads.
Large i2mo., cloth. Price $1.25.

PERILS AND PLEASURES OF A HUNTER'S LIFE.

With fine colored plates. Large i2mo., cloth. Price $1.25.
From the table of contents we take the following as samples ot
the style and interest of the work :

Baiting for an Alligator — Morning among the Rocky Moun-
tains— Encounter with Shoshonees — A Grizzly Bear — Fight
and terrible result — Fire on the Mountains — Narrow Escape
—The Beaver Region — Trapping Beaver — A Journey and
Hunt through New Mexico — Start for South America — Hunt-
ing in the Forests of Brazil — Hunting on the Pampas — A Hunt-
ing Expedition into the interior of Africa.

PETERSON'S FAMILIAR SCIENCE;

Or, the Scientific Explanation of Common Things. Edited
by R. E. Peterson, Member of Academy of Natural Sciences
Philadelphia. The object of this book is to explain scientifi-
cally, but in the simplest language, over two thousand questions
of the commonest phenomena of life. Best edition, i2mo.
Embossed Backs. Price, $1.00.

THRILLING ADVENTURES AMONG THE INDIANS.

By John Frost, LL.D. Comprising the most remarkable Personal
Narratives of Events in the Early Indian Wars, as well as of
Incidents in the recent Indian Hostilities in Mexico and Texas.
Illustrated with over 300 engravings, from designs by W. Croome,
and other distinguished artists. It contains over 500 p^iges.
l2mo., cloth. Gilt back, $1.25.

PIONEER LIFE IN THE WEST.

Comprising the Adventures of Boone, Kenton, Brady, Clarke, the
Whetzels, and others, in their Fierce Encounters with the
Indians. With illustrations, 121110., cloth. Gilt back. Price
li.oc.

22 LIST fflf BOOKS PUBLISHED BY O. G. EVANS,

McCULLOUGH'S TEXAN RANGERS.

I'Tie Scouting Expedition of McCullough's Texan Rangers, inclu-
ding Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of
the Storming of Monterey, &c., with Anecdotes, Incidents and
Description of the Country, and Sketches of the lives of Hays,
McCullough and Walker. By S. C. Reid, Jr., of Louisiana, late
of the Texan Rangers. i2mo-, cloth. Price $i.oo.

THE DOOMED CHIEF.

Or, Two Hundred Years Ago. A Narrative of the Earliest
Border Warfare. By D. B. Thompson, author of " Gaut
Gurlery," &c. i2mo., cloth. $i.oo.

HUNTING SPORTS IN THE WEST.

Containing Adventures of the most celebrated Hunters and Trap-
pers of the West. Illustrated with new designs. i2mo., cloth.
Ii.oo.

GAUT GURLEY ;

Or, THE Tpappers of Umbagog. a Tale of Border Life. By D.
B. Thompson, author of " The Rangers ; or, the Toiy's Daugh-
ter," ** Green Mountain Boys," &c. i2mo., cloth. Price $1 oo.

THE RECOLLECTIONS OF A SOUTHERN MATRON.

By Mrs. Caroline Gilman, of South Carolina, i2mo., cloth.

Price $i.oo.

"This volume is one of those books which are read by all classes at all
fitagoa of life, with an iHterest which louses nothing by change or circum-
Bta,nces."

THE ENCHANTED BEAUTY.

And other Tales and Essays. By Dr. Wm. Elder. i2mo.,

cloth. Price Si.oo.

"This is aYolume of beautiful and cogent essays, Tirtuous in motive, pimpl«
In expression, pertinent and admirable in lo<;ic, and glorious in conclusion
ftpd climax."

THE CHILD'S FAIRY BOOK.

By Spencer W. Cone. Containing a choice collection of beauti-
ful Fairy Tales. Illustrated with Ten Beautiful Engravings,
Spiendidl) Colored, izmo., cloth. Price $1.00.

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